Toby McKeehan, 45, known as Toby Mac. at first he was joined the Christian trio dc Talk, that’s his legendary career. He was with the trio for almost 11 years then he continued his career as a solo gig.
The Momentum singer has spent the majority of his adult life taking his music from city to city, he admits the priorities of career versus family changed dramatically with the birth of his oldest son, Truett, 11, (also known as“TruDog”), in 1998. “You wake up one day and you realize, I’ve been spinning my wheels like crazy. Any amount of value I placed in success or achievement began to pale in comparison to having this life that my wife and I had been given to shepherd“.
Admitting he still struggles to balance day-to-day homelife with his profession as a road dog, Toby boils his experience down to a commitment. “It has to matter to you. I’m home every night at 6:00. Do I want to stop recording? No. I’m just getting creative. But my commitment is to be at the dinner table with my kids and my wife”.
McKeehan confesses, “I would probably not have been disciplined enough to make that decision, but with my wife, friends and the Holy Spirit I feel like I can do that. When you take that step and make the commitment, it turns into desire. I want to be an intricate part of my family’s life. I don’t want to be that daddy who wasn’t there”.
From his song, Toby has spreading an indiscriminate message of love and equality. Same with his ppersonal life, he wants to share the love he has to more children. Then after having Truett, Amanda [Mandy], originally from Jamaica, and Toby prayed for twins. “Never did we imagine it would come in the form of an adoption”.
In a series of events, the couple learned of twins that were about to be born without a home. “Someone asked us if we would consider adopting. It was very clear to us that this was God’s answer to our prayer. And we couldn’t wait”.
With the inimitable blessing adoption bestows on a family unit, it also presents its own unique tests, especially if the family tree consists of both natural birth and adopted children. “We’ve told them, Moses and Marlee, both 7, from the day we were blessed with having them in our home, that they were delivered in a special way to our lives. We want them to be aware of the plan God had for their lives”.
“I think Truett completely understands the beauty of it.” But Leo, 4½ , and Judah, 3, Toby’s youngest two children, “Just know them as their big brother and their big sister”, McKeehan says.
Certain God had his hand in the process, the proud father has no doubt that “as the children begin to grow, they’ll understand the beauty of the adoption process, the beauty of a family that’s diverse, and that God had a plan. That’s what makes our family unique”.
With several platinum and gold records as well as Grammy and Dove awards under his belt, Toby is what some call a bonafide Christian “celebrity”. But he insists he does not like the moniker and fame was never his pursuit. “It’s [just] an honor to serve, to have people come out and buy tickets for a show. As we view our lives we’re just another family at home.”
And though the McKeehan brood may mostly be too young to realize the full impact of having a recording artist father, Toby realizes, with “the natural progression of nepotism, one of them will probably be involved in music, whether as an artist, or the A&R guy or the publisher.”
“The desire to be onstage wasn’t something I was trippin’ on. It’s nothing that I wanted. So if that were any of my kid’s life goals, I’d be more nervous for them,” the now-veteran artist confides. “Sometimes when you get what you always wanted, it’s more of a monster.”
Though good parenting philosophy is not rocket science and intuition plays its role in governing the home, the McKeehans realize guidelines are essential for a functional parent-child relationship. “We just try to stay really consistent with the boundaries we set up. That’s where having a spouse that you can communicate with helps a lot,” Toby suggests about his relationship with his bride of 14 years.
With such an integrated personal and professional life, Toby is the first to recognize his proclivity to be aloof and his need for accountability. “Leave your work situations, your struggles, your creative desires, the songs in your head, leave them behind when you step through that door at night,” Toby advises. Recalling his own weakness, McKeehan relates, “I can start singing a melody at the dinner table and literally be lost. Thank God I have a wife that will hit me on the leg and say, ‘You’re going to miss this.’”
He is a friendly rapper family man who opens up about fatherhood and the challenges of balancing his roles as a nationally known recording artist, husband, and dad. So far he did good, and of course with the help of God and always with the eyes pointed to Him.
