Daly Focus Blog
Dara’s son Timothy was turning three, and to celebrate, friends, grandparents and other family members gathered for his birthday party. All had a great time filled with cake, presents and pictures. Proof was captured in Dara’s numerous social media posts. It was the perfect day that every parent looks forward to.
Unfortunately, Dara had no idea that it would be her last normal day in a long while.
It was the day before she discovered her husband’s pornography use.
Odds are, you or someone you know has stepchildren. According to a recent statistic, 40 percent of families in the United States are blended.
That is a lot of people who are trying to build something new out of the ashes of their former lives. Divorce. Death. Blended families come together for many reasons, but they each face a number of challenges.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Cultivating Love in Blended Families,” authors Dr.
Sara Williams and her husband, Paul, have learned how to trust God by walking through the fires of suffering.
A routine 20-week pregnancy scan revealed a problem. Sarah’s baby had a lethal skeletal issue called thanatophoric dysplasia, a malformity of the skeletal structure where the bones don’t develop sufficiently to allow the proper development of the lungs. The baby was safe inside the womb but would die at birth or shortly thereafter.
Sarah remembers the shock of hearing that the best medical recommendation for her situation was to terminate the life of her baby.
Author and speaker Patsy Clairmont is well known for her wit and sense of humor. But she also has an amazing testimony of overcoming a chronic anxiety disorder and panic attacks.
Anxiety is about the scary “what ifs?” in life. Patsy imagined horrible scenarios about everything that could happen and rehearsed them over and over again in her mind. Her anxiety was so acute that she felt emotionally paralyzed and hid away at home.
Patsy says:
“Fear has friends – anger, guilt, shame.
I never knew my grandparents, but family friends – Mr. and Mrs. Hope – became surrogate grandparents to me. They led my mother to the Lord and treated her and me and my siblings as part of their family.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are visiting with Grandpa Hope. He would sit in a big recliner in his garden atrium, play checkers with us kids and – like any good grandfather – lose on purpose often enough to build our self-confidence.
Some of you recognize Lacey Sturm as the former lead singer for the alternative rock band Flyleaf and now as a solo artist. If you’re not familiar with her journey to new life in Christ, it’s an amazing story.
Lacey Sturm was just 10 years old when her three-year-old cousin was beaten to death by his stepfather. The tragedy rocked Lacey’s world so hard that she lost all assurance that God noticed or cared about her.
Have you heard of the popular MTV programs “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant”? I’ve only caught a random segment or two, and only to keep a pulse on the culture and the messages it communicates to our children.
You have to dig to find redeeming value to such “entertainment.” If you’re not familiar with these shows, they’re so-called “reality” TV programs that follow the lives of young girls between the ages of 13 and 16 who are pregnant, having babies, and involved in intimate relationships.
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.
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.
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.
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.
