Family and Home Archives

Overcoming by God’s Grace

Mike Singletary is a great example of the word “overcomer.”

Although he is best known as a Hall of Fame linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears, Mike’s challenges began before he was even born. His mother already had nine kids when she became pregnant with him, and she was struggling in a bad marriage. Her circumstances seemed so dire that some encouraged her to abort Mike.

Mike’s mother refused. Before he was born, she said to him, “Son, I want you to know that there’s greatness in you.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 4, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Living Boldly for Christ in School

If your teenager is struggling to discover his or her identity in Christ and to live boldly for Him, extend an invitation to sit down with you and listen to our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Living Boldly for Christ in School.”

Emma Mae Jenkins is our guest. She’s a 21-year-old college student and a YouTuber with over 75,000 thousand followers. Her videos are filled with positivity and hope. In each one, Emma Mae encourages young people to live out their faith right where they are.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: education, family September 2, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Cherish Your Wife

They say the eyes are a window to the soul.

If so, husbands, what are your wife’s eyes telling you? Are they alive and vibrant? Or are they tired and withdrawn?

The difference could lie in how she sees herself in your eyes. Does she see a reflection of herself as described in Scripture? Genesis 2:18 says, “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”

The Hebrew word for “helper” conveys the idea of a “completer.” Far from being subservient or inferior to their husbands, God has designed wives to be equal companions.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 31, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Applying Your Faith to the 2020 Election

Political campaigns are heating up and election day is right around the corner on November 3.

Are you ready to vote?

Elections offer Americans the opportunity to vote for candidates who align with their values. However, you can only vote your values when you’re clear what those values are. That’s why I believe it’s wise for Christians to understand how the biblical worldview addresses key issues at stake on Election Day.

We want a society that believes every single human life has value and deserves respect and dignity.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, politics August 28, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Polys Are Coming, and That’s a Problem

The idea of the time-honored definition of family – a married mother and father with biological or adopted children – has increasingly become not just passé, but repugnant to society’s elite.

The most recent evidence comes from the editors at the New York Times, who just published an opinion piece by a Harvard professor extolling the joys and wonders of the “poly” family and the overthrow of the natural family of mom and dad, married for life raising their own biological or adopted children.

Of course, this is not surprising to those of us who have been watching with great concern the decline of the family, which has been aided and abetted by a hostile media, entertainment industry and academia.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family August 27, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Giving Your Marriage a Second Chance

Are you worried that your spouse isn’t your soul mate?

If so, let me encourage you with this: soul mates aren’t found, they’re formed.

Understanding that difference often separates couples who have a healthy, intimate relationship from those who divorce.

Juana Mikels and her husband, Terry, are proof of that. College sweethearts, they walked down the aisle believing the planets must have aligned for them to find each other. Not long into their marriage, however, it was as if the planets had fallen out of their orbits.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 27, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Your Baby’s First Year: What You Need to Know

If you’ve just had a baby – or are about to – you’ll want to hear our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Your Baby’s First Year: What You Need to Know.” Our guest is Dr. Robert Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton has over three decades of experience, both as a pediatrician and as a father of 6 children and a grandfather of 9 grandchildren. You might have heard of Dr. Hamilton because of the famous “Hamilton Hold.” At the time I’m writing this, his video which demonstrates a special way of holding crying newborns that calms them has been viewed nearly 50 million times on YouTube.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: baby, family August 24, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Preparing for the Empty Nest Years

The empty nest years can be a “tight ring season.”

That’s a term coined by Marci Seither and her husband after a customer hired the Seithers’ sawmill in Northern California to remove a huge tree from the spot where the customer’s new home would be built.

Feeling it a shame to lose such a beautiful tree, the homeowners planned to recycle the lumber by using it in the house’s construction. Once the tree was cut down, however, the wood was determined to be too weak for use.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family August 21, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: How can Parents Help Prevent Youth Suicide? Jim Daly Talks with CBN about the Mental Health Crisis in America

Since Focus on the Family’s inception in 1977, the subject of the importance of mental health has been emphasized both on the radio broadcast and in various print publications.

It was the English writer, C.S. Lewis, who once observed, “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken.’”

A report from the CDC last week revealed that more than 1 in 4 young adults have contemplated suicide in the last month.

That’s a staggering and devastating indictment of the health of far too many young people.

Suicide is every parent’s worst nightmare.

If you have a child, what can you do to help prevent it?

What signs should you be looking for?

I’d like to invite you to watch an interview I did on Tuesday on CBN where we talked about these critically important issues.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: suicide August 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What Your Kids Need Most to Grow Up Well

Every day parents face a new fork in the road of some kind. You want what’s best for your child. But it’s not always clear what is best.

Will your children thrive with more boundaries? Or more freedom?

Is your child old enough for technology? If so, what kind? And how much screen time should they be allowed?

Are their friends a good influence? Are your children a good influence on their friends?

There is no formula for parenting but there are seven traits to guide moms and dads toward:

AdaptabilityRespectIntentionalityLoveGratitudeGraceForgiveness

How can we raise our children with an approach that infuses them with godly maturity and grace for others?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, family August 18, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura