Family and Home Archives

Three Things Parents of Adult Children in the Home Should Consider

We’ve been hearing more about “boomerang kids” lately, young adults who, due to a bad economy, dearth of jobs, or for a variety of others reasons, move back home with mom and dad after a season of independence.

Boomerang kids are part of a rapidly growing trend. According to an NBC News article, “A Pew Research Center analysis released earlier this month found that 40 percent of 18- to 31-year-olds with a high school degree or less, and 43 percent of those with some college education, were living at their parents’ home in 2012.” Another study shows that 85 percent of college grads move back in after school is over.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting June 24, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Dr. Tim Keller on God’s Design for Marriage

The landscape of marriage in our country has experienced seismic shifts in recent decades.

In the 1970s, 89 percent of babies were born to a married couple. Today, that number is around 60 percent. And in 1960, about 72 percent of adults were married. That has now dropped to about 50 percent.

Culture has changed, and views about marriage reflect those changes. It should come as no surprise, then, that marriage is largely seen through a consumer-driven mindset.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage June 23, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

We’re Going on a Family Missions Trip. Here’s What I Hope Will Happen

This Friday my family and I will travel to Zambia to participate in Camp Life, a week-long camp for orphaned and vulnerable children in the southern African country.

The need is overwhelming. So many adults have died from HIV/AIDS that half of the country’s 15 million people are under the age of 16. Of the 6.5 million children in Zambia, more than 1 million of them are orphans.

Zambia has the highest per capita orphan rate in the world.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family June 22, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Healing the Wounds from Your Father

What’s your name?

I don’t mean your given name. I’m asking about your real name, the name that defines that sense about yourself you most deeply believe – your identity.

Some of you go by the name “wealthy businessman,” “bread winner of the home,” or “perfectionist.” Your identity is about performance and earning your worth. Others of you have names like “failure,” “disappointment,” or “unworthy.” Your life has been shaped by the message that you don’t live up to people’s expectations.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith June 20, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Celebrate Dad’s Unique Contributions This Father’s Day

What happens when a researcher tries to measure the parent-child bond using the same standard yardstick for both moms and dads?

Dads lose.

That’s what Dr. Kathryn Kerns discovered when she talked to teens and preteens about their parents.

But something wasn’t adding up: the kids were describing “rich, warm relationships” with their dads. So why weren’t the fathers scoring better?

Because the researchers were using the wrong yardstick.

Turns out you can’t evaluate dads the same as moms, because fathers parent their children very differently than mothers do.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, kids, parenting June 17, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Reignite Your Fatherly Fidelity

Men have a special role in the family.

They show their daughters what to look for in a future husband and how a man should treat his wife. They show their boys how to be a committed husband, a loving father, and a man of integrity.

At least that’s what we’re striving to do.

We don’t always hit the mark, but I can tell you, there are a lot of good men out there. They’re dedicated fathers and husbands who are committed to their families and work hard to instill strong values in their children.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting June 16, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What Does True Happiness Look Like?

What does true happiness look like?

Is the concept of happiness even biblical?

I’ll never forget the trip I took to Jakarta, Indonesia, many years ago for a speaking engagement. If you’ve never been there, it has some of the worst smog of any city in the world. My eyes burned, and breathing was difficult after being there for only a short time. The traffic is notorious. Imagine Los Angeles and New York combined and multiply all of that by a factor of 10.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith June 15, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Marriage Is Done Right

Several years ago, Christianity Today ran an article suggesting I was waving the white flag of surrender on biblical marriage in the culture.

I wasn’t waving a white flag at all. I was simply saying that, if you look at the statistics, a growing number of people under 40 – both Christian and non-Christian – now support same-sex marriage. That entire demographic has emerged as a motivated voter block. I felt then that this cultural viewpoint would win the day in the fight to redefine marriage, and daily news headlines over the past year have only validated my concerns.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage June 13, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Three Questions to Strengthen Your Marriage

The latter half of marriage ought to be a couple’s golden years, but quite often it’s dull, disengaged, and lifeless. That might be why a growing number of marriages are ending after 25 years or more.

It’s called the “graying of divorce.”

A recent survey from Bowling Green State University showed that prior to 1990 only 1 in 10 people over the age of 50 divorced. But in the years since 1990, that number has grown to 1 in 4.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage June 9, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Rest When Life Gets Too Busy

“Take time to smell the roses.”

It’s a well-worn phrase. But phrases like that endure for generations because their wisdom is so profound. In this case, that simple bit of near poetry reminds us that we tend to miss the richness all around us because we rush so quickly by the flowers of life that we never notice their color, their beauty, or their wondrous fragrance.

Popular guest, Vicki Courtney, told me of one springtime when she was pushing her grandson along in his stroller.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, relationships June 7, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura