Family and Home Archives

Becoming Teammates in Your Marriage

Dr. Josh Straub says, “Communication in marriage is overrated.”

What he means is that most couples believe the root of conflict is what they’re communicating about – money, sex, chores, stress, parenting styles, etc. Dr. Straub says conflict is about a couple’s “meta-communication” – that is, how they communicate with each other: their tone of voice and their attitude toward each other.

That’s why couples often can’t remember what they fight about, but they do remember feeling angry, hurt, abandoned, or betrayed after their conflict.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage July 29, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Catapulting Over a Painful Past

On Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, we’re commemorating the beginning of the Olympics in Paris by featuring a recorded message by Kim Hamilton Anthony, a world-class gymnast who overcame a rough start in life.

Kim’s mother grew up in a four-room house with 13 of her relatives. There were a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of bills to pay. She became pregnant as a teenager. Confused and scared, she was told that a self-induced abortion was the only solution.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 26, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Quality Customer Service

Mom and dad, you may not think of your household as a business, but it’s true. You are the CEO of a mini empire. It’s your job to provide structure and order – like paying bills and doing laundry – but it’s also your responsibility to create a home where your spouse and children can thrive – spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. How do you do that? The same way you run a traditional business. You put your customers first.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 25, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

More Fun Than Marriage Counseling

Why does love often fade over the years of a marriage? One reason is that many couples don’t spend nearly enough time having fun and laughing together. They’re so stressed by the daily pressures of making life work that they slowly push laughter and fun to the wayside – often without even noticing it’s happening. Worse yet, a vital piece of the couple’s marriage usually disappears with the fun.

The Greek philosopher Plato once said, “You can learn more about a man in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” I think he meant that fun and laughter can reveal things about a person you won’t notice in routine situations.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage July 24, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Developing a Passion for Evangelism and Discipleship

Anyone who’s familiar with Ray Vander Laan appreciates his gift for teaching. For over 40 years, he has empowered others to see the story behind the story in Scripture.

Ray has partnered with Focus on the Family for 30 years on the popular video series That the World May Know. He’s also been a religion instructor at Holland Christian Schools in Holland, Michigan for more than 40 years.

Ray is amazing at uncovering the mysteries of ancient Jewish culture and putting the Bible in its proper context.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 23, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Home Schooling: Giving Your Child a Strong Foundation

Some families have a negative opinion about public schools, for many reasons:

Their child’s learning style doesn’t mesh well with their local school’s approach to education.

The school’s values are out of touch with their own.

There’s also this important consideration: Children who go to a traditional school spend more than 14,000 hours in school. That’s more of their waking hours than they will spend anywhere else, including home.

Home schooling has become the fastest growing form of education in America today, in part because so many parents have taken a more active role in their children’s education in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting July 22, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Practical Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage

A door-to-door salesman from a local cable company once stopped by Dave and Ashley Willis’ house with an offer they couldn’t refuse. At least, that’s how good the offer sounded at first. The man promised his company would take good care of Dave and Ashley and give them the best package at the best price.

However, the deal went south when Dave asked the salesman, “How long is this package available at this price?”

“Twelve months,” the salesman said.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage July 19, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Moms and Anger: Understanding Your Triggers

Parenting can be frustrating!

Authors Amber Lia and Wendy Speake thought they were the only moms who struggled with anger and shame. Then they talked to a lot of other moms and discovered that they weren’t alone.

Anger catches many women off guard. Stress, helplessness, and feelings of inadequacy slowly build until some final straw pushes them over the edge. Shame quickly follows, which pushes women into isolation. For every brave mom who acknowledges a problem with anger, hundreds more wonder if they alone struggle.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 17, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When it Comes to Protecting Preborn Life, We Will Never Give Up

As the Republican National Convention kicks off this week in Milwaukee, and as I recently mentioned on my blog, political party platforms matter – especially when it comes to the sanctity of preborn life.

Many of us with pro-life convictions were disappointed last week when the GOP adopted a party platform that, while supporting the banning of third-trimester abortions, is silent regarding the first two trimesters.

Meanwhile, the Democrat Party Platform endorses the codification of abortion rights and opposes any measure restricting the killing of preborn children.

We can be grateful the GOP is unanimous that preborn life should be protected in the latter stages of a pregnancy, but 94% of all abortions occur in the first 15 weeks of development.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 16, 2024 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Pray with Your Eyes Open

Critics of religion say it’s all make believe. They say the Bible is nothing but a collection of fairy tales. And people who profess faith in God may as well believe in magic and unicorns.

When I hear people talk about faith like that, I scratch my head. Some of the stories in the Bible are remarkable, but there’s nothing akin to fairy dust and houses made of candy.

The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat human suffering, corruption, or the consequences of evil.