Daly Focus Blog
Shelia Erwin is the mother of filmmaking duo the Erwin Brothers, known for the popular Christian films October Baby, Moms’ Night Out, and I Can Only Imagine. Her sons, Andrew and Jon, were always discovering new interests in junior high school, so Shelia wasn’t surprised when they became passionate about the visual arts.
She couldn’t foresee at the time how her boys’ newest hobby would someday blossom. Still, she and her husband Hank encouraged them however they could.
Wisdom comes with age. So do health concerns.
Turning 50 is a major milestone in a person’s health. Maybe you’ve noticed that regular activities that used to cause no side effects now leave you with stiff joints and muscles. Little aches and pains aside, most of us can live long, healthy lives if we’ll remember a few good, common-sense ideas.
My friend and former colleague Dr. Walt Larimore identifies five habits that can help those over 50 live an average of 10 years longer than those who don’t adopt them.
I wake up every day with a desire to serve the Lord. I want other people to see Christ in me when I’m confronted with challenges. I want them to say, “Wow! I would’ve reacted entirely differently in that situation. What do you have that I don’t, Jim?”
But then someone cuts me off in traffic.
…Or my boys don’t behave the way I’ve told them to a dozen times.
…Or I’m exhausted after a long flight and an unexpected delay complicates my plans.
It’s easy to bless a child. It really is.
Not long ago, I asked my son, Troy, if he remembered the day almost ten years ago when I blessed him while we were out hiking on a camping trip. Somewhere along the trail, we stopped, I placed a hand on his shoulder, told him how important he was to me and his mother, and how much we – and God – loved him. Then I prayed over him.
Christina Bennett begins her testimony like this:
“I could have been a statistic. Just a number. I had an appointment to die. My mother went to a clinic to have me aborted, but God stepped in at the eleventh hour and rescued me. And I’m going to tell you what He did.”
What follows is a remarkable story about how God intervened in Christina’s life and made her an overcomer. Far from being a victim of abortion, she has championed the pro-life cause, particularly in the African American community, which she believes is being targeted by pro-abortion advocates.
Whether you lead a business, a church, or a family, the wisest approach is to pattern your leadership after people who know how to lead well. And who better demonstrated leadership after than Jesus Christ himself?
Willie Robertson of A&E’s Duck Dynasty is with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Leading Others by Following Jesus,” sharing an inspiring message on how to emulate the leadership principles that Jesus modeled while He was on Earth.
What does addiction look like?
Johnny Baker compares it to a small water leak he discovered on the side of his house one day. He wasn’t sure of the cause, but the leak seemed small and posed little risk.
A few weeks later, the water stain had grown, and moss was growing.
A few weeks after that, Johnny’s wife called him at work and said, “You have to come home right now. Water from our house is flooding the neighbor’s yard.”
The small leak had grown into a full water line break.
Are your boys rambunctious? Messy? Loud? Are they always falling off of their bikes? Wrestling with the neighbor kids? Forgetting the same instruction you’ve reminded them of a hundred … no, a thousand times?
Boys will be boys, but author Brooke McGlothlin says that her boys were so wild she was embarrassed. They were strong-willed from birth and their behavior grew wilder the older they became. Some days, her household felt like one big wrestling match.
The problem with living at a fast pace is that you never see the cracks in your life starting to form.
Bob and Audrey Meisner discovered that was true after they met and married in Bible college. They were passionate about their faith and wanted to change the world together.
Within a few years, they had three kids, were active in a national ministry, and pastored a thriving church. They attended marriage conferences, read books together, and were well-known in their community.
People get married for a lot of reasons:
Companionship.Money.To feel appreciated.To have the wedding of their dreams.To feel loved.To be served … at least occasionally (of course, no one likes to admit this one).
Notice that all of those ideas have one thing in common: Each is about what my spouse can do for me, for my happiness.
Personal happiness is what the culture teaches us to seek from marriage, after all. Look at the marriage advice that’s out there.
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.
