Daly Focus Blog
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.
A homosexual activist once asked me, “When are Christians going to leave behind their medieval beliefs about sexuality and come into the 21st century?”
He was referring to the Bible, of course – which confronts all of us with some pretty powerful ideas that are not always easily digestible.
So, I responded, “Christians are followers of the Bible, not editors. We’re compelled to follow God’s Word because it’s His truth, and we believe Jesus when He says the truth sets us free” (John 8:32).
Today, on our Focus on the Family Broadcast, you’re in for a special treat. We’re airing an episode of our award-winning children’s radio drama Adventures in Odyssey.
Not only are these dramas one of the best things we do here at Focus to communicate the gospel message, they’re a lot of fun, too!
This episode is titled “Hidden Gems.” The story follows young Olivia as Whit teaches her why reading the Bible is important.
Since the first national Father’s Day in 1910, dads of every generation have wondered and worried about the future world in which their children would live.
Such concern is not entirely misplaced.
If you had become a father back at the time the holiday was first celebrated at a YMCA in Spokane, Wa., your kids would have had to navigate the Spanish flu (50 million deaths), World War I (20 million deaths) and the reprise of the KKK.
Men are important to families.
Dads model character for their daughters, shaping what they will seek in a future husband. Men model for sons how to be a committed husband, a loving father, and a man of integrity who guides his family according to biblical values.
Men don’t always hit the mark, of course. They get distracted by busy careers, the hard work often required to make ends meet, or too many hobbies and toys.
Which is why every man needs to be reminded from time to time that their wives and children deserve their best.
Tyler Sexton has been an overcomer since the day he was born. So have his parents, Lisa and Kevin.
When Tyler was born at 28 weeks, doctors immediately placed him in an incubator and said, “We’re rushing him by helicopter to a hospital four hours away. His lungs will likely collapse, and there’s a chance that he could die mid-flight.” Tyler survived, but a long road that included 16 surgeries had just begun.
At 18 months, Tyler was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
What’s the secret to being a happy wife?
Is it expecting more from your marriage? Expecting less? Does happiness come from working hard? Or from feeling content with what you have?
Author Jen Weaver – and my wife, Jean – say balance is important. They’re both guests on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Secret to Being a Happy Wife.”
There’s good and bad to having too-high or too-low expectations.
Jen is a self-admitted “high-expectant wife” who had a lot of ideas about how her marriage could and should operate.
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.
