Family and Home Archives - Page 2 of 178

Helping Children Understand How They Feel

The Bible encourages us to manage our emotions.

Proverbs 15:18 says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.”

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.”

Identifying and managing emotions can be challenging for adults. How much more difficult is it for children?

Kids experience big feelings inside little bodies and can easily be overwhelmed and confused by their feelings.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, faith, parenting March 10, 2020 by Jim Daly

Redeeming Life, Finding Forgiveness

For over 40 years, our society has promoted the idea that abortion is as simple as a woman’s choice. Abortion affects her. No one else.

Pro-abortion activists never mention the babies, the men, and the families who are impacted forever by an abortion.

They also never talk about situations like Melissa’s. Her 19-year-old mother was in her third trimester when she was given a saline abortion. The procedure injects a toxic salt solution into the amniotic fluid surrounding the womb.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: abortion, broadcast, pro-life March 6, 2020 by Jim Daly

Championing Your Son Through His Battles

Remember the days when your boys climbed jungle gyms and went up and down slides? That’s where they cultivated friendships and learned to navigate their world.

Now they’re teenagers, and the playground is social media. That’s where they connect, form relationships, and shape their identity, much of it around how well they feel they measure up – or not – with “influencers.”

Their online presence could also be summarized by “more accessibility, less accountability.” Back in the day, things like pornography and dangerous worldviews were “around,” but they weren’t finding their way into a child’s life through every Wi-Fi signal in the house.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting, technology March 4, 2020 by Jim Daly

Discovering the Secrets to a Lifelong Romance

Did you get married to work a job? To do laundry? To pay bills?

Of course not. Yet, most of us wind up with marriages in exactly that kind of “ho-hum” condition. Sooner or later, the euphoria of the wedding ceremony fades away and life settles into a daily grind of often-mundane activity. Careers are chased, children are born, and ever-larger homes are purchased. Or newer and newer cars sit outside of garages filled to the roof with stuff we’ll never use.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, love, marriage, relationships March 2, 2020 by Jim Daly

Bringing Gospel Clarity to a Feelings-First World

The most important question we can ask ourselves about life is, “What do I really believe to be true?”

There’s one thing that’s ultimately true for any belief: it’s not a mental exercise. It’s an action.

You don’t simply believe truth. You live it.

That concept came naturally to Abdu Murray. He grew up Muslim in Detroit, Michigan. In that culture, even Muslims who don’t read the Quran, pray five times a day, or immerse themselves in the traditions of Islam consider their faith part of their identity.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith February 28, 2020 by Jim Daly

Strengthening Your Marriage Through Daily Choices

If your marriage is in trouble, I have one question: Do you believe God can work a miracle in your relationship?

If your answer is no, I encourage you to tune into our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Strengthening Your Marriage Through Daily Choices” to hear the story of Ron and Jody Zappia.

It’s an understatement to say that they had a very shaky start to their marriage. Within the first six months, Jody was overcommitted in her career, and Ron had an affair with a co-worker.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, crisis, marriage, relationships February 27, 2020 by Jim Daly

Plugged In Launches New Website With Additional Features

In today’s world of smartphones and YouTube, it can feel impossible to keep pace with what our children are watching. Focus on the Family’s Plugged In website exists to help you and your children make informed media decisions.

If you have never visited the Plugged In website, I hope you will check it out.

If you are already familiar with Plugged In, you may have noticed that the website has a new look.

The new site is designed to make it easier to view the latest content and explore different categories.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: movies, parenting, pop culture, technology February 26, 2020 by Jim Daly

The Crucial Role of Men Standing for Life

Author Stephen Arterburn is our guest on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Crucial Role of Men Standing for Life.”

What I appreciate most about Steve is his willingness to be vulnerable with his audience about his shortcomings. On our program, he’s sharing about the abortion he compelled his girlfriend to have when they were both college students.

In the years since, Steve has had to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t the man that baby and young woman needed him to be.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: abortion, broadcast, pro-life February 25, 2020 by Jim Daly

How God Redeemed My Teen Pregnancy

“I’m pregnant.”

Would you know what to do if your teenage daughter made that announcement? It’s not a pleasant situation to think about. But that’s why you should.

It’s the moment of truth for you as a parent. When you first hear the news, you’ll feel like the floor has dropped out from beneath your family. How you react sets the tone of your relationship with your child moving forward. It’s a scary, uncertain time for you and for your daughter.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, pregnancy February 20, 2020 by Jim Daly

How to Teach Your Kids About God

Note: This article by Focus on the Family President Jim Daly appears in full on Fox News.

Once upon a time, the vast majority of Americans were affiliated with a particular faith community or tradition: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Jewish, for example.

In recent years, though, secularism has been growing and a new wave of either atheism or agnosticism is rolling across the country. It may be true that a degree of “unbelief” has always existed, but with rising rates of people unaffiliated with any church or faith at all, the likelihood of interacting and being influenced by a person who believes in a higher power is similarly depressed.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith, parenting February 19, 2020 by Jim Daly