Daly Focus Blog
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.
A common question we get here at Focus on the Family is from parents who ask how to raise children who embrace the Christian faith. Many moms and dads feel unqualified to lead their children along their journey of faith.
The challenges are real. Many teens and preteens consume hours of digital media every day, which unwittingly shapes their view of God, the world, and themselves according to the values of people they don’t even know.
Have you ever:
Regretted something you said to your child in the heat of a conflict?
Or wished you’d spoken in a different tone?
Or repeated for the hundredth time this month, “Why don’t you listen to me?” or “When will you ever learn?”
We parents are busy, stressed, and pulled in a lot of directions and don’t always handle circumstances in just the right way.
According to authors Amber Lia and Wendy Speake, these stumbles occur because we’re not intentional about how we respond in a crisis.
It’s often easier to tell your spouse, “I love you,” than to show them through your actions.
I can tell you that’s true not only from personal experience but from the sheer number of questions we get here at Focus on the Family from married couples about navigating busy schedules, financial issues, and communication and conflict. Each question represents a small everyday moment that somehow turned into a disruption to the couple’s marital unity.
Authors Matt and Lisa Jacobson are with me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to encourage husbands and wives to serve and love each other well.
Life is busy. For everybody. We spend so much time away from our homes that we never meet our neighbors. We pull into our garages and close the door behind us. That’s too bad because life is better when it’s lived in community.
A lovely example of that went viral on social media. It featured 87-year-old Doug Turner, a widower, who rang his neighbor Michelle’s doorbell one winter morning. She had only lived in the neighborhood for a few months, but she recognized Mr.
My wife, Jean, is the living embodiment of Proverbs 16:24, which says, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” Every time I call her on the phone, she answers with a delightful tone that lets me know she’s glad to hear from me. She reminds me that I’m loved and encourages me when I’m having a stressful day. Her positivity blesses me.
It’s not easy to speak words of blessing if we weren’t taught how growing up.
According to a newly released memorandum from the United States Office of Personnel Management, government employees do not lose their First Amendment rights when they begin their work for Uncle Sam each day.
Scott Kupor, who serves as director of the agency, offered long overdue clarity in the document, especially given some of the hostility that Christians have encountered on the job during the previous administration.
“The Federal workforce should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith,” wrote Director Kupor.
You and your spouse don’t always see eye to eye. One of you talks too much – or not enough. One of you feels hot while the other is shivering cold. And one of you is probably a saver while the other is a spender.
Those differences – especially the last one – can drive you apart. Petty disagreements about money can easily turn into full-grown battles that bleed a relationship dry.
Well-known author, radio host, and financial expert Dave Ramsey is my guest on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly.
Let me ask you a simple question with a complex answer: Are human beings only biological machines? Or is there something more to us, something that transcends mere flesh and blood?
Questions like that have challenged humanity for centuries, partly because we like to explain our world in clear-cut terms. We like things to be either all black or all white. No gray. But human life can’t be defined so easily. Each of us has a physical body, but we have a spiritual side as well.
I don’t know if there’s a secret to building a happy marriage, but there’s one idea that comes pretty close. The happiest couples know their spouse well and feel like their spouse knows them.
There’s a word for that. It’s called intimacy, and the only way to develop relational connection like that is good communication. That means more than talking about the weather. You have to open your hearts to one another and connect at a deeper level.
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.
