Daly Focus Blog
When parents ask me for advice, I encourage them to pray. Sometimes prayer is all you have.
I’m sure you’ve had moments where you felt helpless to protect your child in the midst of circumstances that were beyond your control. Every parent has paced a hospital floor, lost sleep in worry, or kept vigil at a living room window until a child returned safely home. We’ve all bandaged enough scraped knees to know that we can’t protect our children from everything no matter how vigilant we are.
According to data from the Guttmacher Institute, established in 1968 as a subsidiary of Planned Parenthood, one in four women in the United States have an abortion. Evangelical Protestants have abortions at approximately half that rate, which is a better percentage overall but still uncomfortably high.
Author Camille Cates has experienced both sides of the abortion issue. When she entered high school, she gave in to pressure to be sexually active and became pregnant. Though raised in a Christian home, her parents suggested that she have an abortion.
There is only one reason respected author and marriage expert Dr. Gary Chapman vacuums his house: Love. No, he doesn’t love vacuuming; he loves his wife, Karolyn. Her love language is acts of service, so Dr. Chapman spends a lot of time doing things that he hates but that make her happy – like vacuuming the floor.
Dr. Chapman says he shares that story with his audiences, not so they’ll applaud him for being such a great guy, but so they’ll learn an important lesson about love.
If you’ve not taken a personality test, read a book on the subject, or explore Focus on the Family’s website for information about personality differences. I also encourage you to tune in to the latest edition of Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I’m featuring a recording of learning styles expert Cynthia Tobias, who spoke on this subject at a chapel service at our Colorado Springs campus.
As you’ll hear, Cynthia explains how God has uniquely wired each of us as individuals to communicate, work with others, and see the world through the filter of our personality type.
The secret to success isn’t avoiding mistakes, it’s making the most of the path you’re on.
Kade Lovell can tell you all about that. He entered a foot race when he was nine years old and won it in remarkable fashion. Not a race on the playground against schoolmates, mind you. No, this was a 10K against adults.
Officially, Kade was registered to run the 5K. But a few kilometers in a volunteer instructed him to turn left when he should have turned right.
Many married couples believe they struggle because they’re so different from each other. But handled well, differences can draw you together instead of drive you apart.
Like you and your spouse, my wife and I are opposites. She’s a night owl, while I’m a morning person. I wake up bubbly and excited to conquer the day, but she doesn’t. By evening, we switch roles. She’s lively and ready to talk, and I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.
It’s wise to think about your relationships in terms of boundaries. Kathy and Tom didn’t, and it got their marriage off to a rocky start.
Kathy, an introvert, blamed Tom, an extrovert, for smothering her. He placed such an emphasis on spending time together that Kathy often felt like she had no personal space or time for herself. Tom, in turn, interpreted Kathy’s desire for space as a lack of love for him, leaving him feeling hurt and disconnected.
Success rarely happens overnight. Most goals can only be reached by keeping the big picture in mind and staying the course until you achieve them.
In 1897, a construction worker named Pearle Wait came up with the idea of mixing fruit flavoring with powdered gelatin. His wife nicknamed the jelly-like substance “Jell-O.” At the time, Pearle made extra money selling homemade medical remedies like cough syrup door to door. He switched to Jell-O. For months, he tried to sell his new product all over town, but he had trouble generating interest.
According to the CDC, nearly one in four women and one in seven men report having experienced physical violence from an intimate partner. Likely, those numbers are low because most abuse cases go unreported.
Domestic violence is evil. It’s a perversion of God’s design for relationship and should never be tolerated or excused. And yet, tragically, some Christian traditions encourage victims stay with their abusive spouse. This advice ignores other teachings in the Bible about love, safety, self-care, and serving God and each other through our relationships.
Is it up to fate whether or not men become a good father?
My dad was a poor role model. He was an alcoholic and in his drunken stupors he would threaten my mother and scare me to death. He walked out on our family when I was five then floated in and out of my life for years. He was never a positive influence and didn’t model for me what good fathering looked like. Mostly, he broke his promises and disappointed me again and again.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
