Daly Focus Blog
Here in Colorado, you can tell that winter is right around the corner. The days are getting cooler, and you can feel it in your bones: that first arctic blast isn’t too far off.
The end of summer has me already longing for spring because once the cold, snow, and ice set in around here, they seem to last forever.
It’s no fun being stuck in winter.
That icy chill is even worse to be stuck in when it describes your marriage.
I love sports.
Athletics were always a part of my family growing up. My brothers and I built a solid foundation for life through sports. It’s where qualities like responsibility, discipline, and perseverance were expected of us. Those are skills we’ve honed through the years and carried into adulthood.
But…
As much as I believe in encouraging kids to be active in sports, I think it’s a good idea for families to set reasonable boundaries around their schedule and involvement level.
“Politics is nothing but an expression of culture, so if politics is sick, it’s because the culture is sick.”
That astute observation was from the late Chuck Colson from a broadcast we aired a few weeks ago. President James Garfield shared a similar concern in 1876 when he said, “The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it’s because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.”
In a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” our leadership is ultimately a mirror reflection of the culture that elects them.
Tragedy is like a sucker punch to the face.
The blow comes out of nowhere, and you’re left reeling. Your view of life is blurry for days, weeks, maybe even months.
One of the worst parts of tragedy in the initial moments is the feeling of isolation that can settle in around you. The pain can be so deep, so intense, that you feel strangely detached and all alone, even if you’re surrounded by friends and family.
I have a heart for orphans. My own story is a vital piece of the puzzle why.
My folks divorced when I was 5. I lost my mom to cancer when I was 9, and my dad died not long after. I was orphaned and spent about a year in the foster-care system.
I know what it’s like to go to bed each night wondering if someone loves you.
That’s a tough place to be.
But that desperate feeling is a familiar one for an estimated 140 million orphans around the world – a number almost too overwhelming to think about.
Are you at your wit’s end with your boys?
Maybe they’re rambunctious, messy, and loud, and they’re always falling off of their bikes, scrapping with the neighbor kids, or forgetting an instruction you’ve given them a hundred … no, a thousand times.
Solid, helpful parenting ideas can be a big help in these cases, and we have loads of that here at Focus on the Family. But nothing can take the place of one of the most overlooked parts of Christian parenting: prayer.
What do you use to hold your marriage together?
Super Glue?
I may as well suggest duct tape, right? According to the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, God Himself uses Super Glue.
Well, sort of.
Dr. Rogers draws from Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (ESV).
The original Greek translated into “hold fast” (“cleave” in the KJV) means “to weld or to glue.”
Commitment, not love, is the foundation of every successful marriage.
What’s the difference between a poorly dressed man on a tricycle and a well-dressed man on a bicycle?
Attire.
Get it?
Okay, so I’m not much of a comedian. Which is why you’ll enjoy our broadcast today with Tim Hawkins.
Tim finds humor in everyday circumstances. Like the video below about a time when fixing breakfast for his children didn’t go so well.
https://youtu.be/M41m79VMx2w
I guess that sort of thing happens when you see the world the way Tim does.
“Mom, there’s something I have to tell you. I’m gay.”
Ann Mobley’s son, Dan, was 25 when he told her that. She was blindsided. She had never suspected that he was a homosexual and felt woefully unprepared to know how to respond.
What would you do?
The answer to that question can be a dicey subject. There are a lot of very strong opinions out there. The most significant – and increasingly overlooked in our culture – is the biblical viewpoint.
You may call me crazy for saying this, but hang with me.
I think moms and dads should be mean.
Now, let me clarify right from the start that when I say “mean,” I’m absolutely not saying that parents should be abusive or hurtful in any way.
That said, I think a lot of parents are just too nice. They don’t expect anything from their children or allow them to feel discomfort in any way. There are no chores to do, no bedtimes to worry about, and no difficulties to learn how to overcome.
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.
