Daly Focus Blog
By: Joe Battaglia
Whether we like it or not, all fathers are teachers.
Some are absent.
Some are reluctant.
But children will learn SOMETHING from their dad.
Even if it’s nothing.
The question is what do we want them to learn, and from whom?
I became acutely aware of this scenario in a rather strange way—by shopping with my daughter when she was about 13-14 years old.
While we were at a mall, my daughter asked to go into a very hip, fashionable store for teens to buy a shirt.
Jesus could have judged the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11). She was guilty, after all. The crowd knew it. She knew it, too. And according to the strict law of Moses, she deserved death by stoning.
Rocks in hand, the men dragged the woman through the streets, and asked Jesus for her final verdict. Instead of condemning her, Jesus forgave her.
That story from the book of John is helpful for couples whose marriages have been assaulted by the betrayal of adultery.
Kristen Schell discovered the value of community on a summer immersion program in France. She was a stranger in a foreign land, but she had rarely felt so welcomed, loved, and connected – and she didn’t even understand the language.
In a many European countries like France, community takes place around the table. Family and friends join together to celebrate food, life, and each other.
That perspective on life came back to her years later while she and a neighbor were preparing for a backyard barbecue.
Week Ending 6-5-18
Breaking Up with Perfect (by Amy Carroll)
I’ll Push You (by Patrick Gray & Justin Skeesuck)
Through the Eyes of a Lion (by Levi Lusko)
The Read-Aloud Family (by Sarah MacKenzie)
Don’t Go to Bed Angry (by Deb DeArmond & Ronald DeArmond)
The Birth Order Book (by Dr. Kevin Leman)
Our Newlywed Kitchen (by Laura Schupp)
A Family Shaped by Grace (by Gary Morland)
The Graduate Survival Guide (by Anthony ONeal & Rachel Cruze)
Faith, Hope, Love, and Deployment (by Heather Gray)
Raising Kingdom Kids (by Tony Evans)
Love & Respect (by Emerson Eggerichs)
A Lifelong Love (by Gary Thomas)
The Focus on the Family Guide to Talking with Your Kids about Sex (by J.
Have you ever felt lonely?
Have you ever felt abandoned?
Have you ever felt like it wouldn’t matter to anyone if you lived or died?
That’s how well-known author and speaker Josh McDowell felt when he was just 11 years old. His father, the “town drunk,” was abusive to his wife and created such havoc for the family that Josh became suicidal. He felt God had abandoned him – if God existed at all, that is.
Technology is wiring our children’s brains to believe five fundamental lies:
I’m the center of the universe.
I deserve to be happy all the time.
I must have choices.
I’m my own authority.
I don’t need other people.
What’s technology’s part? Eighty percent of a child’s ability to interact with the world around him develops after the child is born. Until about age 25, neurons in a child’s brain are connected through repetition, through the things the child does frequently.
Ding, ding, ding! Put your gloves on for round 1!
It’s healthy to disagree. Why? Because nobody is 100% correct 100% of the time. Disagreement improves ideas, charts a new course or corrects an old one, and allows people to see their faults and to grow from them. The trick is to engage in conflict in productive ways.
That’s particularly true for married couples.
With us on our radio program to offer practical guidance for strengthening your marriage through disagreeing are Ron and Deb DeArmond, authors of the book Don’t Go to Bed Angry: Stay Up and Fight.
Imagine hiking 500 miles across mountains, valleys, and seemingly endless prairie all while pushing your best friend in a wheelchair and rediscovering God – and yourself – along the way.
That may sound like a compelling movie plot, but it’s a true story for Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray.
Justin has a progressive neuromuscular disease called multifocal acquired motor axonapathy. It’s a genetic predisposition similar to ALS that was triggered by a car accident Justin survived when he was 16 years old.
Week ending May 29th:
The Graduate Survival Guide (by Anthony ONeal & Rachel Cruze)
Through the Eyes of a Lion (by Levi Lusko)
The Birth Order Book (by Dr. Kevin Leman)
A Family Shaped by Grace (by Gary Morland)
Our Newlywed Kitchen (by Laura Schupp)
ESV Economy Bible
Raising Kingdom Kids (by Tony Evans)
Swipe Right (by Levi Lusko)
Kingdom Marriage (by Tony Evans)
Grace Based Discipline (by Karis Kimmel Murray)
Faith, Hope, Love, and Deployment (by Heather Gray)
The Antelope in the Living Room (by Melanie Shankle)
A Lifelong Love (by Gary Thomas)
Ready to Wed: 12 Ways to Start a Marriage You’ll Love (by Dr.
Children are unique, but they also fall into some fairly predictable categories.
One child is a reliable, conscientious, perfectionistic, opinionated, list-maker who likes things done well. Another child is more rough and tumble, but loyal and hangs tough through thick and thin. Yet another child is outgoing, relational, charming, and can persuade others to listen to their opinions – a good negotiator.
On our broadcast today, Dr. Kevin Leman says you can almost predict according to birth order which child will fit those descriptions.
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.
