Jim Daly

Bringing Good News to Kids in Public School

For more than 45 years, elementary students across America have had a legal right to attend elective offsite Bible classes during their public-school day. “Released time” laws allow students to attend religious training opportunities of their choice.

Bible2School (B2S) is one such program. Located in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Idaho and Texas, B2S isn’t extracurricular; it takes place during the school day and, according to the Supreme Court, is a protected Constitutional right in all 50 states.

Continue ReadingTopics: Uncategorized Tags: faith, family

How to Break Free from the Pain of Past Experiences

It’s no fun breaking your ankle. I can tell you that from experience. It happened to me a few years back when I tumbled off my motorcycle on a winding mountain road. The result was surgery and weeks in a recliner with my ankle elevated. One thing I learned was that the connection between physical brokenness and pain is obvious.

Emotional brokenness, on the other hand, is often a different story. It’s much harder to connect symptoms to their cause, making the pain easy to mistake for other issues.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

Teach Your Children to Have Meaningful Conversations

Maddie and her 13-year-old son, Justin, heard Jim Daly while in the car together. They heard me say that junior high kids want their parents to listen to them. Right there in the parking lot, Justin said, “He’s right, Mom. I’d love it if you’d just listen to me sometimes.”

Good listening is a skill. Teenagers don’t open up very often, so when they do, take advantage. When my son, Trent, was younger, he got chatty at night.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

How to Nurture Emotional Health in Your Child

Children aren’t equipped with the emotional resources they need to keep their world steady. In fact, according to research:

Nearly one in three adolescents meets the criteria for an anxiety disorder by age 18.

One in six children (ages six to 17) are diagnosed with a mental illness.

The number of teenagers who experience depression has increased by 59% over the past 10 years.

My guest on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, author Eliza Huie, says recent studies are revealing that bullying, social media, exposure to traumatizing news and images and the effects of living through the global pandemic of 2020 are having a severe emotional impact on children’s mental health.

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Living for Others

Entitlement is a lie. It deceives us into believing that we deserve reward without effort. The trouble is, we’re not given a good life. We earn it through commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

That profound truth was beautifully captured in the movie Saving Private Ryan. Tom Hanks’ character, Captain John Miller, leads a group of men on an extraordinary mission behind enemy lines: find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have died in combat. The men succeed in their mission but at a steep cost.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Finding God’s Love When You Feel Broken

Some people are “quietly” broken. They’ll put a smile on their face and tell you, “I’m fine,” but they feel lonely, depressed and inadequate.

For many, that brokenness began with a trauma that caused them to doubt their worth. Others felt wounded by a parent who wasn’t physically or emotionally available. For these reasons and many others, children become adults who chase the approval of others.

What they need – what we all need – is “The Blessing,” a concept introduced on Focus on the Family decades ago by Dr.

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Forming New Habits for Your Marriage

The stress of daily life takes a toll on even the happiest couples – which is why marriage and family counselor Dr. Randy Schroeder says seeking marital happiness is unrealistic. A better approach is to pursue consistent marital satisfaction. How? Good habits.

Dr. Schroeder offers four “daily essentials” for creating good habits in your marriage:

“Goodbye, I love you.” Whoever leaves the house first should initiate this.

“Goodnight, I love you.” Whoever goes to bed first should initiate this.

Continue ReadingTopics: Uncategorized Tags: family

Making the Most of Time with Your Grandkids

My two boys are grown and live on their own, but fatherhood is probably still a few years off, which means grandparenting for Jean and me is also a few years off. We’re looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I’m thinking about the kind of grandfather I hope to be and how God might want to use me as a loving and positive influence in my grandkids’ lives. I have some questions. And I bet you do, too.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family

Creating a Strong Foundation for a Healthy Marriage

When you’re driving and approach an intersection, a traffic light communicates how to proceed:

A green light means move forward.

A yellow light means slow down and prepare to stop or move forward with caution.

A red light means stop immediately.

Author and marriage and family pastor, Scott Kedersha, advises dating couples to approach marriage the same way. Through the wisdom of friends, family, or a pastor or counselor, you can discern whether it’s safe to move forward, whether you ought to slow down and reconsider aspects of your relationship, or whether you ought to stop altogether instead of proceeding into an unhealthy marriage.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage

Football is Like Life – Only with Refs Who Enforce the Rules

The 106th NFL season kicks off on Thursday night with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys.

In the pecking order of life’s pressing personal and professional priorities, football likely ranks low, though television ratings can sometimes suggest otherwise. Last season, tens of millions of people watched professional football each week. Millions more watched college games.

I think I know why.

With all kinds of concerns swirling about, from wars and rumors of wars to political upheaval and social evils running everywhere, football is a welcome reprieve from the madness and mayhem of everyday life.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

Bringing Good News to Kids in Public School

How to Break Free from the Pain of Past Experiences

Teach Your Children to Have Meaningful Conversations

How to Nurture Emotional Health in Your Child

Living for Others

Finding God’s Love When You Feel Broken

Forming New Habits for Your Marriage

Making the Most of Time with Your Grandkids

Creating a Strong Foundation for a Healthy Marriage

Football is Like Life – Only with Refs Who Enforce the Rules

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