Daly Focus Blog
A recent study found that children ask about 300 questions a day. Often they’re easy ones. But as our children grow and mature, the questions often get tougher.
And then there are times when the questions our kids ask have eternal significance.
“Are there other ways to get to heaven?”
“How can Jesus be God?”
“If God loves us, why are some people going to bed hungry tonight?”
Have you ever had your child ask one of those questions?
Recently I blogged about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a serious condition that someone who has experienced any sort of life trauma may experience.
While PTSD may most commonly be associated with war veterans, people with any sort of trauma, including childhood disturbances, are vulnerable.
As some of you may know, my childhood included a lot of trauma. I spent the first part of my years in violence-riddled Compton, Calif. I witnessed a gang-related murder outside of my bedroom window when I was 8.
Time magazine’s provocative cover story last week, “The Childfree Life,” explores why some couples are choosing to deliberately not have children and taps into a larger, worldwide trend towards smaller families.
A good portion of the piece is rooted in cultural observation and fact.
Not surprisingly, some of the causes are found in modern life. Young couples are marrying later, if at all, and instead of having children, they’re increasingly choosing to pursue college and advanced degrees and becoming more active in the work force.
Positive affirmation is generally considered a good thing, but would it surprise you if I told you that letting your child know that he or she is smart may be detrimental to their future success? According to recent studies, it’s true.
An interesting article from New York Magazine, “How Not to Talk to Your Kids,” outlines why parents may want to stay away from praising their kids’ intelligence: it might cause children to stay away from things they may not be initially successful at.
Smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Increasingly they’re our constant source of news and entertainment. Sometimes it seems like these devices are surgically attached to our hands – but this reliance on smart technology is also demanding us to make decisions about what we prioritize and how we will steward our time.
Today I want to share with you a post written by one of our young staffers. In it, Chelsey, a newlywed, explores how she waded through the choices her iPhone forced her to make:
The phone alarm wakes my husband.
Focus on the Family’s blog for fathers, Dad Matters, has a great mix of content written by some of the dads on our staff. Some of the posts, like the one on staying involved during the school year, are full of practical insight. Others, like the post on presuming the best, offer life wisdom with real-life examples.
Then there’s Patrick, who specializes in writing humorous pieces inspired by his daily adventures in fatherhood. His latest post, “Flying the Frantic Skies,” is sure to make you laugh:
Notice anything about those airline ads on TV?
A few weeks ago I shared a moving video about a young couple and their newborn child that inspired many of you to tell me your own stories of love, loss and the dignity of every human life. Today I want to tell you how that video came to be – and to introduce you to the two very special men, a real-life father and son, who starred in the short feature “A Letter from Dad.”
Jim Mhoon serves as the vice president of content development here at Focus.
Would you miss the birth of your child for the largest paycheck of your life?
American pro-golfer Hunter Mahan, 31, was leading the Canadian Open, a tournament with a prize of $1 million – and then he got a call. It turns out his pregnant wife, who wasn’t due to deliver their first baby for another three weeks, had suddenly gone into labor.
What did he do?
What would you do?
Immediately after receiving the call, Mahan packed his bags and withdrew from the tournament.
Earlier this week we aired a broadcast dealing with a difficult and sensitive issue: how can a man and woman who are divorced co-parent their children successfully?
It can be a challenging issue to navigate. We know God’s heart is for marriage and divorce is outside His intent. That’s why we encourage couples in crisis to do everything they can to work out differences through prayer, counseling and community support.
However, the reality remains that sometimes, divorce happens.
Scientists love to study how happy parents are (or aren’t). Year after year, news outlets report on the topic, touting studies that they say either find how unhappy parents are, or how much satisfaction and “positive emotion” children bring to their parents’ lives.
Here are some samples of the findings on this topic – as you’ll see, there’s a wide array of results.
A 2007 Pew report found children are still vital to adult happiness.
Fox News describe how “parents report significantly higher levels of depression than non-parents”
Research in the journal Psychological Science found that overall, “parents (and especially fathers) report relatively higher levels of happiness, positive emotion, and meaning in life than do non-parents.”
The Wall Street Journal reports “every additional child makes parents 1.3 percentage points less likely to be ‘very happy’”
Andrew Hess is one of our staff researchers, and he recently attempted to make sense of these findings.
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.