Raising Arrows

Connor Sykes & Pastor Scott Stewart
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Raising Arrows is a podcast for the dad who's about to have his whole world flipped upside down — and the one who already has. Hosted by Connor Sykes and Scott Stewart — two young fathers, husbands, and Christ-followers deep in the trenches of early fatherhood. Whether you just found out she's pregnant, you're holding your newborn wondering what the hell you got yourself into, or you're chasing a toddler who has zero regard for your energy levels — this show is for you. We're not parenting experts. We're not talking from the other side of it. We're in it right now, and we're bringing you the raw, real conversations about what it looks like to step up as a husband, lead your home, stay close to God, and actually enjoy the wildest season of your life. The stuff nobody told us. The stuff we wish someone had. That's what this show is. "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth." — Psalm 127:4 New episodes weekly.

  1. 2d ago

    Who Are You Now?

    Send us Fan Mail Somewhere around month three, Hailey looked over at Connor in bed and said, "I don't even know what you've done this past month." That sentence cracked something open. In this episode, Connor Sykes and Pastor Scott Stewart get honest about the temptation every new parent faces — letting the marriage quietly slide to the back burner while the baby's schedule takes over everything. They talk through the difference between being in the same room and actually being connected, the danger of mistaking "quality time with the kids" for togetherness as a couple, and why so many husbands default to describing their wives only as "mom" instead of remembering the whole person underneath. Connor shares the viral 36 Questions framework — reworked for married couples into three rounds, from light reconnection to deeper, more vulnerable territory — as a practical tool for any exhausted couple who doesn't know where to start. This one is a call back to Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: two are better than one, because when one falls, the other can lift them up. Marriage was never meant to take a back seat to parenthood — it's the foundation everything else stands on. If you've caught yourself talking only about the kids' schedules and realized you don't actually know how your spouse is doing this week — this episode is for you. Anchor Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 — "Two are better than one because they have good reward for their efforts. If either falls, his companion can lift him up. But pity the one who falls without another to lift him up." Music: Beloved by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/W4K Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube

  2. Aug 30

    Provider vs Present | Raising Arrows

    Send us Fan Mail Connor once asked his dad a question it took him thirty years to ask: what did you miss because of work? The answer involved a championship Little League game, a canceled meeting in Latin America, and a regret that never fully went away. In this episode, Connor Sykes and Pastor Scott Stewart tackle the question every ambitious young dad eventually has to answer: what does it actually mean to provide for your family? Starting from 1 Timothy 5:8, they unpack the tension between godly ambition and worldly ambition, and why chasing a bigger paycheck can quietly cost you the moments you can never get back. Connor shares the story of his father's success as a CEO, and the small and big moments that success couldn't buy back. Scott brings a pastor's eye to what real provision looks like when you're not the sole breadwinner, why "money dysmorphia" is stealing peace from households doing everything right, and how 1 Timothy 6:8 reframes contentment as its own kind of wealth. Together they get honest about boundary lines, delegated meetings, and the difference between being an ATM and being a father. If you've ever wondered whether working that extra hour is worth what it costs at home, this episode is for you. Anchor Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:8 — "But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Music: Beloved by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 License: Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://links.al/W4K Music promoted by Audio Library: https://links.al/youtube

  3. Aug 23

    The Long Game of Fatherhood

    Send us Fan Mail The Long Game of Fatherhood Here's a question no exhausted dad wants to sit with: are you parenting your two-year-old, or are you parenting your twenty-two-year-old? In the season finale, Connor and Scott close out Season 2 by zooming all the way out. Every tantrum, every popsicle meltdown, every moment you choose patience over frustration is quietly training the adult your child will become. Connor gets honest about the frustration he's had to retrain in himself, the kind he learned growing up, and what it looks like to choose slow-to-anger instead. Scott talks about the one voice his son will always recognize above every other influence in his life, and why that voice has to be carrying something real. They dig into the difference between what you can do once and what you can do consistently, and why consistency, not intensity, is what actually shapes a kid. Then, to close out the season, they each share the one-line letter they'd write to their own kids for the day those kids become parents themselves. Anchor scripture this week is Galatians 6:9. Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. If you're in the thick of the newborn haze or the toddler chaos and you feel like nothing you do is landing, this episode is for you. You are the primary voice in your kid's life. Don't give up. Listen now and let us know what you want to hear in Season 3.

  4. Aug 18

    The Faith of the Father | Raising Arrows

    Send us Fan Mail Connor almost called it "the Book of Jonathan." There is no Book of Jonathan. But there is a moment, pre-Beau, when Connor wasn't the one leading his family to church — Haley was. This week, Connor and Pastor Scott sit down with a statistic that stops the conversation cold: if a dad doesn't go to church, only 1 in 50 of his kids will become a regular worshiper. If both parents go, that number jumps to 72 percent. Connor gets honest about the season he almost missed — depressed, unsure of his next step, watching his wife carry the spiritual weight of their home alone until conviction finally caught up to him. Scott unpacks why that gap exists: not because moms aren't enough, but because kids are watching for what's missing as much as what's present. They dig into the quiet trap so many Christian dads fall into — outsourcing their kid's faith to Sunday school and youth group instead of leading it themselves — and why consistency, not intensity, is what actually builds a family's faith over time. Then Connor shares the moment that undid him: standing on a golf course at sunset with his son Beau, who looked at the sky and asked, "God did this?" It's a reminder that kids are always paying attention, even when we think they're not. This episode is for the dad who feels the weight of leading his family spiritually and isn't sure he's qualified. You're not meant to carry it in your own strength — and showing up, imperfectly and consistently, is still leading. Anchor Scripture: Joshua 24:15 — "But if it doesn't please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will worship... As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord." Connor Sykes & Pastor Scott Stewart. Faith. Fatherhood. The Beautiful Chaos.

  5. Aug 9

    Stewarding, Not Scheduling: Raising Kids Without the Resume

    Send us Fan Mail Is your calendar raising your kids more than you are? In this episode, Connor and Pastor Scott welcome a special guest to the table — Mark Martinez, husband to Jenna and father of three daughters, Kate, Belle, and Claire. Mark opens up about growing up the son of immigrant parents, a disciplined military dad, and how watching his father live out his faith taught him more than any lecture ever could. That question — what am I actually modeling versus what am I just saying — becomes the thread that runs through the whole conversation. From there, the guys dig into the real tension every young family feels: the pressure to fill a toddler's calendar with sports, classes, and activities before they can even walk in a straight line. Mark shares why he refuses to force his girls into anything, even as a self-described sports guy, and why the goal isn't building a resume — it's stewarding whatever God actually gifted them with. Connor and Scott push the conversation further into the home itself, landing on the one habit research shows is quietly disappearing from American families: the dinner table. Mark gets honest about not having that fixture growing up, and how his wife Jenna made it non-negotiable in their own home. The anchor for it all is Ephesians 5:15-16 — "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil." The guys unpack what redeeming the time actually looks like when you're not filling every hour, but protecting the few that matter most. If your family's schedule feels like it's driving you instead of the other way around, this episode is your permission slip to say no to good things so you can say yes to the best ones.

  6. Aug 2

    Discipline vs. Punishment: What Hebrews 12:11 Actually Teaches Us About Correcting Our Kids

    Send us Fan Mail   Every dad has a moment where the discipline voice turns into the punishment voice, and you don't even notice the switch until it's already happened. In this episode, Connor and Scott get honest about the difference between correcting out of love and reacting out of frustration, and why so few of us were ever actually taught the difference.  Connor walks through the real, in-the-trenches version of parenting Beau and Haven, from the pantry-snack moments that shouldn't warrant punishment to the full meltdowns that do call for discipline. He unpacks how his own anger in those early years was never really about his kids. It was about his own overwhelm, and how getting honest about that changed how he shows up for them now.  Scott brings the pastoral lens, breaking down how punishment and discipline mirror the difference between how people often misread God the Father versus who He actually is. He talks through the Stewart household's approach with Shiloh, the tension of blending two very different upbringings with his wife Shay, and why urgency without intensity has become their working definition of healthy correction.  Together they get into the hard, practical stuff: what to do when your toddler is mid-meltdown in public, how consistency matters more than intensity, why lying is the one thing that erodes trust faster than any single mistake, and how the pause before you react might be the most transformational parenting tool either of them has found.  This episode lands on Hebrews 12:11, the reminder that discipline never feels good in the moment but produces peace on the other side of it. If you've ever disciplined your kid out of frustration instead of love and felt that gut-drop of regret an hour later, this conversation is for you.  Scripture referenced: Hebrews 12:11

  7. Jul 26

    Setting the Standard for Your Daughter | Raising Arrows

    Send us Fan Mail There is a study Connor heard in college that he never forgot — and once you hear it, you won't either. Your daughter is most likely to marry a man who treats her the way her father treated her mother. That single truth is either one of the most motivating things a dad can hear, or one of the most sobering. Probably both. In this episode, Connor and Scott get into what it actually looks like to raise a daughter with intention — not just telling her she's beautiful (though she is), but building something deeper. The kind of confidence that doesn't crack when a boy breaks her heart or the culture tells her who she's supposed to be. The kind of identity that's rooted in who God says she is, not what the mirror says. Connor opens up about the pressure he already feels thinking ahead — the high school years, the first heartbreak, the moment some kid inevitably makes Haven cry — and how he's already trying to lay the foundation now, while she's still asking him to be Olaf and Kristoff in the living room. Because the groundwork you pour at two years old is the same groundwork she'll stand on at twenty-two. Scott and Connor talk about: Why the way you treat your wife is the most powerful parenting tool you haveHow to affirm your daughter's character, courage, and identity — not just her appearanceWhat it means to model healthy conflict so she never mistakes dysfunction for loveThe coming daddy-daughter days Connor is already planning for when Beau starts schoolWhy Haven knowing she is a woman of God has to come before she ever hears it from a boyThe anchor verse for today is Proverbs 31:25 — "Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come." That's the woman you're raising. This is how you get started. If you're a girl dad figuring this out as you go, this one's for you. Scripture Referenced: Proverbs 31:25

  8. Jul 19

    Raising Masculine Men in a Soft Culture.Part 1

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About

Raising Arrows is a podcast for the dad who's about to have his whole world flipped upside down — and the one who already has. Hosted by Connor Sykes and Scott Stewart — two young fathers, husbands, and Christ-followers deep in the trenches of early fatherhood. Whether you just found out she's pregnant, you're holding your newborn wondering what the hell you got yourself into, or you're chasing a toddler who has zero regard for your energy levels — this show is for you. We're not parenting experts. We're not talking from the other side of it. We're in it right now, and we're bringing you the raw, real conversations about what it looks like to step up as a husband, lead your home, stay close to God, and actually enjoy the wildest season of your life. The stuff nobody told us. The stuff we wish someone had. That's what this show is. "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth." — Psalm 127:4 New episodes weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    Connor Sykes & Pastor Scott Stewart
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Raising Arrows
  • Show Website
    Raising Arrows