Family and Home Archives

Two Questions to Help You Get Control of 2018

According to billionaire Richard Branson, the secret to making and keeping your New Year’s resolutions is a pen and piece of paper.

“It’s time to get your New Year’s resolutions down on paper,” he recently wrote. “The simple act of writing it down will help you stick to it. Share your goals with your family and friends but ultimately it’s down to you to make your resolution happen in 2018.”

Goal-setting can be very effective, but as we head off into an uncharted new year, I want to ask you a related question, but with a twist:

What if you made a commitment this year to STOP doing so many things?

Topics: Current Events/ Family and Home Tags: events, family January 3, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

So You Want to Do Devotions with Your Little One

Chuck Colson once said to me, “By age 10, your children’s moral compass is pretty well set.”

His wisdom confirmed what Jean and I already believed from our earliest days of parenting: we only had a few short years to impart biblical wisdom and a love for Jesus to our two boys. It’s a task that we’ve taken seriously ever since. But we also discovered early that “serious” doesn’t have to mean “dull” or “boring.”

Thankfully, there’s no magical “one way” for moms and dads to pass their faith on to their children.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, parenting January 2, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Serving God with What You Have

Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than blindness is having sight but no vision.”

Scripture says that we lose our way without vision (Proverbs 29:18).

Vision is the ability to focus your attention on God’s plan and his ability to accomplish it. God calls each of us to a vision that is bigger than us. He invites us into things that require the best of us and that will outlive us.

What is that “thing” for you?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family January 1, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Lesson Adam and Eve Can Teach About Cherishing Your Spouse

“…to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

A lot of us recited similar vows at our wedding, but no sooner did we walk the gauntlet of flying rice than the word “cherish” began fading from our vocabulary. We didn’t mean for it to happen. The years went by, we settled into our lives, and we woke up one day with a marriage that was missing something deeper, more satisfying.

Visible light is perceived as only one color, but shine it through a prism, and you discover it’s actually a whole rainbow.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, intimacy, marriage, wife December 28, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding True Joy at Christmas

Merry Christmas!

On today’s Focus on the Family broadcast, we’re celebrating the holiday with you in a unique way. Here’s a hint: Think long beards, duck hunting, camouflage outfits, the backwoods of Louisiana, and delicious Cajun recipes.

That’s right. On today’s broadcast, we’re exploring the joys of family and faith as we reflect on what Christmas day is all about with Phil and “Miss Kay” Robertson of the Duck Dynasty clan.

They’ll share some fun stories – like how to cook a squirrel, a scary “John the Baptist” that walked through their front door, and a Christmas fire that almost burned down their house.

Topics: Current Events/ Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family December 25, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Women who Welcomed the Birth of Jesus

Christmas is only a few days away, and you can feel the excitement in the air! The season is in full swing, and Christian families are looking forward to time with their loved ones as they remember the birth of Jesus Christ on Monday.

Today, we’re bringing you a special message by popular author and speaker Liz Curtis Higgs. She spoke at our staff chapel about the very first Christmas and how those momentous events in Bethlehem changed the world forever.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family December 22, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Meet Two ‘Ordinary’ People God Used to Accomplish Great Things

Our spirits are uplifted when we see ordinary men and women who overcome amazing obstacles in their lives through unwavering faith.

Like Corrie ten Boom. Almost 34 years after her death, she is still a spiritual giant for millions of Christians around the world. We’re drawn to her because she was a common person who had moments of doubt, but who also had tremendous faith in God.

While imprisoned in a German concentration camp, her barracks were overrun with lice.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith December 21, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Quiet Hero of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (Hint: It’s Not Jimmy Stewart)

I want to give you a Christmas gift. My colleague and collaborator, Paul Batura, has authored a heartfelt holiday essay for FOX News today. It’s an insightful look at a favorite Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.

As Paul suggests, maybe the biggest hero of the movie isn’t Jimmy Stewart, the well-known and beloved star of the perennial classic.

So, who is it? I think the answer might surprise you.

Click here to read the piece to find out who he thinks the hero is – and why.

Topics: Family and Home December 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Clams Marry Crowbars

Are you a clam or a crowbar?

That’s an analogy Dr. David Clarke uses to help husbands and wives understand how their poor communication skills have landed them in his counseling office.

In almost every marriage, there’s a clam. The percentages suggest it’s usually men, but it can be women, too.

In either case, clams are the ones who don’t naturally talk on an emotionally deep level. They clam up. But every time they do, their spouses break out a crowbar to pry them open.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, marriage, relationships, wife December 18, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Three Steps of Kindness That Can Transform Your Marriage

Today’s broadcast has me thinking a lot about one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It reminds me of how I ought to conduct myself in the name of Christ. In Romans 2:4, Paul tells us that it’s “God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.”

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit – an expression of God’s nature through us – and one of the most powerful tools for Christians who wish to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, husband, marriage, wife December 15, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura