Family and Home Archives

This Quote Can Change Your Life and the Lives of Those You Love

The quote has been attributed to several people:

Plato.

Socrates.

Reverend John Watson.

Ian MacLaren.

As it turns out, Ian MacLaren is actually the pen name for the aforementioned Reverend John Watson, a Scottish author and theologian who lived the majority of his life during the second-half of the nineteenth century. He passed away in 1907 at the age of 57.

Ten years earlier, in 1897, the Reverend Watson was invited by the popular religious newspaper, the British Weekly, to submit a Christmas message.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith, family, friendship December 13, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Inside Scoop on What’s Going on Inside Your Teen’s Brain

“What were you thinking?”

If you’re a parent of teenagers, you’ve probably asked that question a few times. I know I have. On more than one occasion, Jean and I have looked at each other and asked the same question about one of our boys: “What is going on in that brain of his?”

Well, according to Dr. Jeramy and Jerusha Clark, our guests on today’s and tomorrow’s broadcasts, there’s an avalanche of change going on.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting December 11, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Forgive When You Really Don’t Want to

The call to forgive others lies at the heart of the Christian message.

But that doesn’t make it easy.

Forgiveness is tough. The human heart is wired for justice. When somebody sins against us, the hurt we feel is a cry for wrongs to be made right again. And when they can’t be, we often want the other person to suffer in some way that will help us feel that the debt has been satisfied. At least, we tell ourselves this is true.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, relationships December 8, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving and Leading Your Strong Woman

Fire can cook you a nice steak, or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness its power.

It’s the same with a strong-will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong-will gone wild can wreak havoc in a person’s life.

Fierce doesn’t have to mean obnoxious, loud, or rude. A fierce woman can be strong and beautiful.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, husband, marriage, wife December 7, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reasons to Believe in Jesus

Years ago, back when video stores were still around, my wife and I went looking for a well-known film that told the story of Easter. We couldn’t find it on the shelf, so we asked the young lady behind the counter if they had it available. She pointed us to several kids’ videos that explained how to decorate eggs. We said, “No, we’re looking for a video about the real story of Easter.”

Judging by the confused look on her face, she had no idea what we were talking about.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith December 4, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Be Confident in Who God Is Through You

Earlier this year, Focus on the Family officially re-launched Brio Magazine, our publication for teen girls. It’s a positive, godly alternative to most of the influences out there today for teenage girls.

Our “Brio girl” for the inaugural issue was Sadie Robertson. Many of you know her from the A&E reality show Duck Dynasty and from Dancing with the Stars a few seasons ago.

She’s just 20, but she’s an impressive young lady, and we’ve asked her to join us in the studio today to share how she is fearlessly living out her faith and using her public platform to be an excellent role model for girls.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family December 1, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding God’s Goodness, Even in Suffering

Did your boss sneak anything into the fine print of your job description that warned you your work required suffering?

A college degree? Maybe.

Hard work? Sure.

Suffering? Probably not.

Church-planting hopefuls Peter and Carol Chin were told directly and openly by leaders overseeing their training to prepare for suffering.

God uses difficulty to purify our faith and to spur us toward stronger character. That’s often particularly the case for those serving in ministry. Peter and Carol expected a few speed bumps.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family November 30, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Ten Recommended Christmas Gift Ideas

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday – it’s hard to keep up, isn’t it?

For some, shopping for that perfect Christmas gift is a tradition and a treat. For others it’s a chore. To help simplify your shopping this year, I asked my colleagues here at Focus to compile ten recommended gift ideas for children. The list is hardly exhaustive, but anything and everything you get from the ministry is of high quality and can be trusted.

Topics: Family and Home November 29, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is Your Marriage SMART?

What’s your EQ?
Your IQ is a measure of your intelligence. Your EQ is a measure of your “emotional intelligence.”

The term was coined in 1995 by Daniel Goleman, who first applied the concept to businessmen and women. He described emotional intelligence as the degree to which you understand your own emotions, the emotions of others, and can make healthy relational choices as a result. The concept eventually spilled outside the business world into other arenas.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, relationships November 27, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Ten Family-Favorite Christmas Films

As we head into the long Thanksgiving weekend and the official start of the holiday season, I wanted to share a list of ten of the top family-friendly Christmas films with you. This list was compiled by my friend and colleague Bob Waliszewski and his PluggedIn crew.

Sitting down together as a family to watch a movie can be a fun way to unwind. Films can also help us communicate values and truths to our kids.

Topics: Family and Home November 22, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura