Daly Focus Blog
If you want to know how much dads matter in the lives of their children, ask me – I didn’t grow up with a dad.
My biological dad, stepdad and foster dad were all out of my life by the time I turned 13.
It’s tough to go through life with a father who’s either physically or emotionally absent. But don’t take my word for it; just look at the statistics. They’ll show you how things go awry when a dad’s not at home.
Each day on the daily radio broadcast, John and I have the privilege of interviewing a great variety of people – all of them uniquely gifted by God.
We’ve featured athletes and authors; singers and activists; theologians and politicians… and it’s wonderful to see how they contribute in their own areas, for the glory of God.
By now you might be asking yourself what this has to do with unlocking your child’s potential.
Here’s the link…
All of the luminaries we feature on our broadcast were, at one point in their lives, kids.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents over the past 30 years. Along with it comes an increase in all the health problems associated with obesity: tendencies towards heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and bone and joint problems.
So, what can be done about it?
It would seem patently obvious that the solution to obesity in children is to have them eat healthy and move around more.
Let’s try to guess which of these two men is doing more to expand the Kingdom of God.
We’ll call the first guy Kevin. Kevin gets up every morning at 5:30 a.m. and gets ready for a long commute into his downtown office where he works in middle management in the banking industry. He works hard because he has a family to support: a wife, three kids and a dog.
Calvin is our second guy – “Pastor C,” as the kids in youth group call him.
Pick up any Christmas catalog this season, from L.L. Bean to Orvis, and you’re bound to see images of cute puppies and family dogs.
There sits a friendly retriever by the crackling fireplace, snuggled up on his tartan-plaid dog bed. Or there’s pajama-clad junior, hugging his new canine friend, a red bow around his collar.
There’s a reason the late Peanuts creator Charles Schulz once suggested that “Happiness is a warm puppy.”
Just see how many advertisements include a dog or a cat.
Why would a photo of an elderly man eating lunch with his wife go viral across the Internet? Maybe because the simple image captures the true richness of love and intimacy within a marriage like few things can.
The photo first appeared on social media along with the unnamed man’s story. He met his wife when they were 17. It was love at first sight. They dated for a short time but lost touch when he left to serve in World War II, and her family relocated to another part of the country.
Television often portrays dads as blubbering simpletons or even optional accessories to a family. Yet, we all know that dads matter, for good or bad. To lift up this truth, I want to share a story today from a daughter on how her dad positively influenced her.
A father’s influence on his daughter’s life can mean the difference between her entering a good marriage or a bad one. Here’s how Glenn Stanton, one of our family experts, summarizes the research:
Girls with involved fathers, therefore, are more likely to select for themselves good suitors and husbands because they have a proper standard by which to judge all candidates.
Have you noticed how, every year, Christmas seems to edge out Thanksgiving more and more? It’s now par for the course to see Pilgrim decorations living side-by-side with Santas on store shelves.
A U.K. researcher confirmed the trend: He found people start thinking about Christmas in August.
Isn’t that something?
Why would that be?
Perhaps people are yearning for Christmas. They’re yearning for the warmth and joy and happy memories.
Deep down, though, we’re longing for a Savior.
Yesterday I wrote about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the perspective of military marriages – what might couples expect after a war veteran returns home. Today I’m continuing this two-part series by sharing how couples can work through PTSD in a way that will make the marriage stronger than it ever was before.
One thing to remember is that it’s not only war vets who can struggle with PTSD. Experiencing any sort of trauma, like living through a natural disaster or a school shooting, can trigger PTSD.
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz made a habit of dispensing advice through the mouths of cartoon characters, especially the blanket-carrying Linus van Pelt.
Like any offering of counsel, some of it is to be heeded and some of it is not.
“There are three things you must never discuss with people,” the comic strip’s philosopher/theologian once said, “religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.”
Since we regularly wade into the first two topics anyway, we might as well go for broke and address the latter.
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.
