Family and Home Archives

A Mother’s Story of Loss and Redemption

Few parents have experienced the heartbreak of losing a child.

Fewer still have endured that suffering twice.

Lindsey Dennis and her husband, Kevin know the depths of that heartache. They also know how God’s comfort can bring beauty out of terrible circumstances.

Lindsey and Kevin are sharing their tragic and touching story with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “A Mother’s Story of Loss and Redemption.”

At what was supposed to be a routine prenatal visit, the couple was given shocking news: “We can’t find your baby’s skull.” Their baby was diagnosed with anencephaly.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, tragedy August 22, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Poignant Day in the Daly Household

I’ll cut right to the point.

Jean and I are grieving a little bit this week – not over the death of a loved one or a dire medical diagnosis – but grieving nonetheless.

Our oldest, Trent, left for a nearby college earlier this week.

We couldn’t be happier for him, of course, especially seeing how he’s matured and grown over these last few years. We’ve been impressed with his choice of friends, his attitude and his overall goals and sense of direction.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith, parenting August 21, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Equipping Christians to Understand Sexuality

Take a look at these alarming statistics:

41% of practicing Christians believe that cohabitation is a good idea.60% of people on Christian dating websites say they have no moral inhibitions against sex before marriage.32% of Christian men ages 18 to 30 admit to having an addiction to pornography (not casual use, mind you, but an addiction).

How did we get so far away from God’s design for sexuality?

I’d love to read your thoughts in the comment section below.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith August 19, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Following God’s Pace Instead of Your Own

It’s easy for us as Christians to lose track of God’s timing in our lives. Our culture is driven, and we often fall prey to busyness. We work hard at our jobs. We volunteer at church. We have hobbies and responsibilities around the house. Some days there’s not much left of our time or our energy to keep our relationships in order.

That was true for Terry Looper. His goal was to become a wealthy businessman.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family August 16, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Heroic Moms Raising Godly Heroes

“We practiced an active shooter drill today.”

Those words from Lee Nienhuis’ grade-school aged son, Ryan, felt like a gut punch. She could barely hold herself together when he told her, “We pile up in the corner like puppies, and we hide.”

That wasn’t the only time Lee was confronted by the darkness her children face in this world. Another incident happened in church. The congregation was singing the hymn I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. Lee could hear her son Ryan singing when they reached the words: “The cross before me, the world behind me.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting August 15, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Growing Your Marriage in Times of Stress

Does your marriage stress you out? If not, there’s still a good chance that you’re bringing stress into your marriage.

Either way, how do you handle it?

The natural inclination for a lot of couples is to seek stress relief in non-relational ways that enable them to hide – things like drugs and alcohol, or even behaviors like shopping, gambling, excessive cleaning, or binge-watching television – all of which lead to addiction, unhealthy obsessions, or lashing out at other people.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, conflict, faith August 12, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Redeeming a Marriage and Childhood Wounds

Grammy-award winning singer and songwriter Russ Taff grew up in church, but he was an adult the first time he was truly able to understand God’s love.

His dad was a pastor who preached what Russ calls a “hard Gospel.” That means there were rules about clothes, rules about hair, rules about attitude. Rules, rules, rules – so many that his father couldn’t live up to his own standards. His father relapsed with alcohol again and again for years and, ultimately, didn’t stop drinking until he died.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: Domestic abuse, faith, marriage August 8, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Discovering the Best Ways to Educate Your Child

So here’s the scenario. It’s a weeknight, and your child has spent most of the evening on the same school assignment. It’s pretty clear he doesn’t understand the information. To top it off, he’s brought home a note from the teacher warning you about a failing grade.

What do you do?

Many parents immediately assume the worst. They think their child has a behavior problem, difficulty learning, or is just plain lazy. But most of the time school challenges like this aren’t a crisis.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, faith, parenting August 5, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Cultivating a Healthy Single Life

Imagine two keys.

Now imagine threading those keys onto a key ring.

Here’s the question: are either of those keys more complete now that they are joined together than they were individually?

Answer: no.

And neither will you be if you’re single and hoping to be married one day. “Singlehood” is often considered synonymous with “incomplete” – as in, there’s something unfinished in you that only a spouse can complete.

As romantic as Hollywood makes that scenario sound, it’s not really true.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, singleness August 2, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Facing Confrontation with Grace

Deborah Pegues was once vice president of MCA Universal Studios. She headed up the venture capital division that was responsible for starting new companies. It was a high-risk, high stress business. Her role frequently required her to confront people.

You might even say she got good at it.

Which is precisely the reason we’ve invited her to our studios to talk about how to confront someone effectively. We’re airing the conversation on our Focus on the Family Broadcast titled “Facing Confrontation with Grace.”

Deborah says most people try to avoid confrontation because it’s hard, and it doesn’t feel good.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, confrontation, faith, Grace August 1, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura