Family and Home Archives

Navigating the Challenges Teens Face

Social media. Cyberbullying. Peer pressure. Drug and alcohol abuse. Pornography. Depression. Suicide.

Parenting teenagers is not for the faint of heart.

Moms and dads play a critical role in guiding their children through the challenges that arise in the teen years. Their mission is not to protect their children from every adversity, but to train them to develop the faith and strength of character that will carry them through it.

A helpful goal is to parent your teenager toward becoming a responsible adult rather than toward short-term obedience.

Topics: Family and Home June 10, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Hope Again

Everybody has moments where they feel a little sad. But some people encounter depression so fierce they don’t know if they’ll ever come out of it again.

Counselors identify six things that lead us to feel overwhelmed, hopeless, and helpless:

A traumatic eventStrained relationshipsSerious health problemsCrushing disappointmentUnchangeable circumstancePainful loss

Kay Warren has experienced all of those. Kay co-founded Saddleback Church with her husband, RickWarren, in California in 1979. She had been sexually abused, battled cancer and depression, and spent years trying to help her son, Matthew, battle his own depression – a battle she and Rick lost when Matthew died by suicide at the age of 27.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: depression, faith, hope June 7, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Embracing God’s Purpose for Your Marriage

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, couple, faith, marriage, spouse June 3, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Harnessing Your Strength to Transform Your Marriage

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, spouse, wife, women May 31, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Healing and Hope After an Abortion

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: abortion, broadcast, hope, pro-life May 30, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Justice Thomas Speaks Truth: Abortion IS a Tool of Modern-Day Eugenics

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.

Topics: Family and Home May 29, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Honoring America’s Veterans

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, memorial day, veterans May 27, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Practical Advice for Those Getting Ready to Wed

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?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, couple, engagement, marriage May 24, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Complicated, Beautiful Life of a Foster Mom

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, fostering, mother, parenting May 23, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Your Path in Life

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.

Topics: Family and Home May 20, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura