Family and Home Archives

5 Ways to Help Soothe the Sting of Valentine’s Day

I appreciated the fun response to yesterday’s post about Valentine’s Day. But I’m also aware that February 14th can be a difficult day for many people.

Every Valentine’s Day the world fairly explodes with flowers, chocolate, and the color pink. If love is abundant in your life, those trappings can be a joyful reminder. But for the lonely it can make for a long, difficult day.

For many people, Valentine ’s Day isn’t a celebration of love and romance at all.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: intimacy, technology February 14, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Don’t Be “That Guy” this Valentine’s Day

When it comes to the 14th of February, the one thing I don’t want to be referred to is this:

“That guy.”

You know who “That guy” is…

At worst, he’s the guy who forgets about Valentine’s Day altogether, at least until he gets to the office and is reminded when he sees all the red and the flowers and boxes of heart-shaped candy on the desks of his female colleagues.

He’s the guy who waits until 6 PM on Valentine’s night and stops off at the supermarket to try and fulfill his obligation.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: intimacy, sex, wife February 13, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Power of Our Words

I love reading stories about how people came to their faith in the Lord. It’s humbling to see, time and time again, how God lovingly pursues us, calls us to repentance through the Holy Spirit and gives us the gift of His Son.

I want to share one such story with you.

In My Train Wreck Conversion, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (photo courtesy of CT) shares her story of being a woman who, in her own words, was a “leftist lesbian professor” who “despised Christians.” Steeped in her postmodern intellectual worldview, she was convinced that Christians hated her – and she was going to attack.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family February 12, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Study: Athletes More Influential than Faith Leaders

The Barna Group released a new study last week finding almost two-thirds (64%) of Americans believe professional athletes have a greater influence on society than faith leaders. The report also suggested most people are increasingly comfortable with the blending of faith and sports, even to the point of having no problem with the fact that an athlete like Tim Tebow is widely seen as a more effective ambassador of the Christian faith than a given national religious figure.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, entertainment February 11, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Peggy Noonan on Why the Paul Harvey Ad Worked

Here are some reasons it was great:

Because it spoke respectfully and even reverently of others. We don’t do that so much anymore. We’re afraid of looking corny or naive, and we fear that to praise one group is to suggest another group is less worthy of admiration. So we keep things bland and nonspecific. Harvey wasn’t afraid to valorize, and his specificity had the effect of reminding us there’s a lot of uncelebrated valor out there.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news February 8, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Don’t Do This to Your Family

Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddleboats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail’s pace of the other.

Words were exchanged.

Challenges were made.

And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.

One boat began falling behind.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, husband, kids, wife February 7, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Do Traditional Husband Chores Lead to More Frequent Intimacy?

I just came across a story about a controversial study that was featured on NBC’s Today Show.

Here is an excerpt:

Heterosexual married men who spend their time doing yard work, paying bills and changing the oil have more sex than husbands who spend their time cooking, cleaning and shopping, according to a new study on the subject of housework and sex.

From the study:

“Households with a more traditional gender division of labor report higher sexual frequency than households with less traditional gender divisions of labor,” says Sabino Kornrich, lead author of a study that appears in the February issue of the American Sociological Review.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, husband February 6, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Space Babies and “The Talk”

Continuing on yesterday’s theme of Super Bowl commercials, I wanted to highlight the larger issue brought up by Kia’s ad.

Do you remember it? It’s the one where a dad creates a fantastical story about “Babylandia” to answer his child’s question of “where do babies come from?”

While we laugh at the desire of the father in the commercial to side-step the birds and the bees conversation, the truth is there’s a tendency to not proactively talk to our kids about sex and as a result, they’ll often hear it from someone else.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, pop culture February 5, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Super Bowl Ads a Contrast of Culture

For good or bad, advertisements are a reflection and extension of the culture.

So, what did the commercials during last night’s Super Bowl communicate?

Just two observations:

1. The most popular ads lifted up noble ideals: Charles Revson was the founder of Revlon cosmetics. He once reflected that his company may make lipstick in a factory – but it is hope that they sell in the drugstores. Super Bowl XLVII’s highest scoring spots struck a similar hope-filled chord:

A trainer and his horse were reunited (Anheuser-Busch)
Hard-working farmers were lauded and honored (Dodge)
The sacrifices and demands facing military families were recognized (Jeep)
The everyday challenges of parent-child communication were noted(Kia)

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, pop culture February 4, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

These Parents are Guaranteed to Win the Super Bowl

This Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers is being dubbed the “Harbaugh Bowl” – or even better, the “Super Baugh.”

The designation stems from the fact that for the first time in the championship game’s history the teams are being coached by brothers. Jim Harbaugh is the head coach of San Francisco, and John is at the helm for Baltimore.

What are the odds of such a matchup between two brothers?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, news, parenting February 1, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura