Daly Focus Blog
Is there a secret to a happy marriage?
That’s a common question. It’s also a tough one.
On the one hand, who doesn’t want a happy marriage? Everyone walks down the aisle believing they’re committing themselves to a spouse who will fill their life with joy and fulfillment. On the other hand, when couples reach out to Focus on the Family, many are struggling because their marriage isn’t making them as happy as they thought it would.
Wonder Woman.
Batgirl.
Black Widow.
The Invisible Woman.
Wives.
What do all of these women have in common?
Well, they all can be strong and fierce in character. They’re all capable of having bold convictions and standing firmly behind their decisions. Really, the comparisons could go on and on.
There’s really only one difference: Fictional superheroines are esteemed because they stand on their own and lead their lives independent of men.
God never intended Christian wives to do the same.
When Pat decided to have an abortion, she was convinced it was the right thing to do.
Her first marriage had ended a few years before as a teenager when her husband, also a teen, abandoned her, leaving her with a newborn son. She tried to pick up the broken pieces of her life by enrolling in college, despite the responsibilities she carried as a single mom. As a student, she wrote articles for the National Organization for Women and wholeheartedly supported abortion as a woman’s right.
Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision that upheld Indiana’s fetal remains law – legislation that requires burial or cremation of a baby’s body following an abortion – was welcome news regarding a very uncomfortable topic, of course.
It’s hard to even fathom why anyone would oppose these types of standards, but Planned Parenthood’s wicked and evil opposition to anything that hints at the rights and respect due pre-born life shouldn’t shock us anymore.
At the same time, there was disappointing news within the same decision.
Today, on a special Memorial Day edition of our Focus on the Family Broadcast titled “Honoring America’s Veterans,” we’re raising the flag in honor of those families who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we might celebrate freedom.
As Scripture says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 5:13, ESV). In our case, we owe gratitude to generations of military personnel who have helped secure and maintain our freedom.
Every couple walks down the aisle dreaming of love, romance, and a life of happiness together. In fact, our marriage team here at Focus reports that 93 percent of Americans say a happy marriage is one of their chief objectives in life.
And, yet, the statistics also show that a significant percentage of relationships will end in divorce, and about half of those will occur within the first seven years of marriage.
Why? How does the beauty and promise symbolized in a wedding ceremony deteriorate into a failed marriage and the ugly reality of divorce?
May is National Foster Care Awareness Month.
We’re honoring all those who have stepped into the world of adoption and foster care on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Complicated, Beautiful Life of a Foster Mom” with our guest Jessie Gallaher. She describes her difficult yet rewarding journey of adopting five children from foster care – all at once!
When they first brought the kids home, many people told Jessie and her husband, “Just love them, and time will heal all of their wounds.” But like most adoptive parents, they discovered that raising children with traumatic backgrounds also requires structure and consistency.
Racing wasn’t
just a day job for NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip. I can tell you from
experience, he was wired for it. I played golf with him once, and he nearly
took off in the golf cart without me. He wanted to beat the other members in
our group to the next tee. He was literally zigging and zagging all along the
cart path to keep them behind us … where they belonged, apparently. After
Darrell won the short chase, he looked at me and said, “Life is a race
to me.” Darrell is wired for racing.
Imagine this scenario: It’s your child’s job to clean up their room, but hours have gone by and they still haven’t gotten the job done, despite repeated reminders from you.
How should you respond?
Lecture them? Ground them? Clean up the room yourself?
The answer is to let good boundaries be your guide. One of the most important functions of parenting is to teach your children how to respect appropriate limits.
Setting healthy boundaries has a lot of benefits, and primary among them is helping children to develop self-control.
A lot of moms say they feel overwhelmed and stressed. Is it any wonder? They’re struggling under the burden of unrealistic expectations – some self-imposed, and some imposed by the culture.
In both cases, the “ideal” mom is often portrayed as a woman who is not only a full-time mom at home, but a fulltime employee outside the home. In her free time, she’s a Girl Scout troop leader, bakes treats from scratch for her kids, and still has time to accompany her children on every school field trip.
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.
