Family and Home Archives

Encouragement for Moms

I want to introduce you to Erin Hawley, Focus on the Family’s newest author. Erin is a wife, mother to two young boys and also a practicing lawyer and professor of law. This following excerpt comes from her wonderful new book, Living Beloved: Lessons from My Little One About the Heart of God.

If you think of someone who needs this does of perspective, please consider passing it along. I’d also like to encourage you to pick up a copy of her book in our store – and let me know how this message resonate with you by leaving your feedback in the comments section below.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids, mother, wife October 24, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Understanding How Your Teen Thinks

We had Jeramy and Jerusha Clark on our Focus on the Family Broadcast last year to talk about what’s going on in our teens’ brains. It was fascinating.

We learned that teenagers often can’t articulate what they’re feeling. They don’t recognize that they’re lonely and insecure, or that they need more attention from you. Since they can’t ask for specific help, they often express their emotions through behavior.

We have Jeramy and Jerusha back with us again to discuss the way teens think.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting October 23, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Experiencing the Best Marriage for You and Your Spouse

According to some reports, Americans spent $72 billion on wedding ceremonies last year. That puts the average cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 per ceremony.

By contrast, most married couples will never invest a fraction of that amount into the marriage itself.

A successful marriage isn’t the by-product of an extravagant ceremony or an expensive honeymoon. If that were the case, celebrities would routinely set the standard for strong, healthy marriages.

A happy, fulfilling marriage isn’t about the big day, it’s about the every day.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage, relationships, wife October 22, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Discovering What It Means to Be a Man

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first man to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The flight took him thirty-three hours, thirty minutes and thirty seconds.

Lindbergh didn’t sleep for nearly 55 hours. His flight from New York to Paris required him to dodge storm clouds at 10,000 feet and skim over wave tops as low as 10 feet. He continually had to alter his altitude to keep ice from building on The Spirit of St.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith October 18, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reverend H.B. London, Jr., Pastor to Pastors, Has Died at 81

It is with a heavy heart that I write to let you know that our friend and longtime Focus colleague, the Reverend H.B. London Jr., passed away this morning after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was 81. He died at his home in Palm Desert. His beloved wife, Beverley, was at his side, as were other members of the London family.

Our feelings are conflicted because, on the one hand, we rejoice that H.B.

Topics: Family and Home October 16, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Evangelism It’s Easier Than You Think

Jesus said to believers, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13 and14, ESV).

What did Jesus mean? Lee Strobel – well-known as the former atheist who wrote the best-seller The Case for Christ – says that Jesus meant if you’re going to follow Him, make people thirst for God. Shine His message of hope, grace, love, redemption, and eternal life into areas of darkness and despair.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, evangelism, faith October 16, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Hope and Healing After Losing a Child

There aren’t many things more devastating than losing a child.

Pam Vredevelt and her husband have endured the incredible pain and grief of losing two children.

After nine years of marriage, Pam became pregnant for the first time. The baby was developing right on schedule, but at a routine check-up, Pam’s doctor said, “I’m not seeing any heartbeat. I think the baby is dead.”

They had three more children after that. Their youngest, Nathan, was born with Down Syndrome.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids October 15, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God’s Amazing, Unconditional Love

No one is beyond God’s reach.

Not even Kelly Stigliano. By age 13, she was sexually promiscuous and involved in divination, witchcraft, and the occult. She and her friends regularly smoke, drank, took drugs, held séances, and vandalized the neighborhood. By age 18, she was pregnant and suicidal.

Kelly married the father of her children and within two weeks she was caught in a cycle of abuse. At its worst, she begged her husband to kill her, so the abuse would end.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith October 11, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tackling Midlife Transitions in Marriage

When you first got married, did you assume your relationship with your spouse would remain pretty much the same from year to year? Many couples do. That’s probably why so many wind up shocked and utterly confused when life around them changes … and their marriage along with it.

According to our guests on today’s program, relationship experts Bill and Pam Farrel, the key is to recognize that changes are coming – probably sooner than we think – and to prepare for them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, marriage, relationships October 9, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Raising Daughters in God’s Wisdom

Being a parent takes wisdom, courage, and heart. And being the parent of a girl often requires an extra measure of love and tenderness.

Our next edition of the Focus on the Family Broadcast will encourage you to trust God with your daughter and equip you to help nurture her relationship with God, with her family, and with the world around her.

We’re airing a special conversation we recorded a few months ago with Jonathan and Wynter Pitts, parents of four girls.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting October 8, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura