Family and Home Archives

Mother’s Day, Every Day

Finally being a mom on Mother’s Day was completely thrilling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there, and was deeply grateful for the grace and good doctors that saw me through tragedies on the way to that distinction.

Let the brunching begin!

But in the years to come I would try to create the ultimate Mom’s Day with fairly high expectations. Would it be a road trip with the kids? A day alone with a book?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: husband, parenting, wife May 10, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

In a recent article in The Atlantic, writer Stephen Marche serves up a provocative perspective on the impact of Facebook and other social network software on society:

We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are.

In the opening lines of the lengthy piece, Marche describes the defining moment of Social Network, the film that chronicled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s life and career.

The film’s most indelible scene, the one that may well have earned it an Oscar, was the final, silent shot of an anomic Zuckerberg sending out a friend request to his ex-girlfriend, then waiting and clicking and waiting and clicking—a moment of superconnected loneliness preserved in amber.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: friendship, technology May 8, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Criticize – And Not Be Hated For It

When was the last time you read Dale Carnegie’s classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People? Although it’s sprinkled with time-dated illustrations, its core messages are timeless. For example, consider the following excerpt on how to correct a person without unduly offending them. As a husband and father, this lesson has broad reaching application:

Charles Schwab was passing through one of his steel mills one day at noon when he came across some of his employees smoking.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, friendship May 7, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Chuck Colson’s 50 Films Every Christian Should See

It’s been nearly two weeks since our dear friend and the founder of Prison Fellowship, Chuck Colson, received his eternal reward. It was announced recently that a public memorial in his honor will be held at the National Cathedral on May 16th. It will be a privilege to attend and collectively thank the Lord for the life of this good man.

As some of you may know, Chuck loved movies. He saw them as a wonderful way to communicate truth and the many characteristics of our loving and all-powerful God.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith, pop culture May 2, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Billboard Wisdom

A colleague’s son snapped a picture of this billboard the other day. He sent it to his father, along with the following three-word message:

“Love you, Dad.”

“I wonder what was on his heart,” his father wrote.

I think I have an idea. The teenager is growing up and doesn’t just see life from his own perspective anymore.

That’s a sign of maturity. That’s a sign that the boy is becoming a man.

How does this billboard strike you?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting April 30, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Most Important Thing a Father Can Do

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

– Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh

Topics: Family and Home Tags: husband, marriage, parenting, wife April 27, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tell Your Kids About This Man

Steffan Tubbs is a morning radio host on Denver’s leading talk station, KOA-AM. I enjoy listening to him along with his co-host, April Zesbaugh. They’re good at what they do.

Steffan has a tremendous appreciation for veterans, especially those who served in World War II. In fact, he’s the spokesman for The Greatest Generation Foundation, an organization dedicated to celebrating military personnel from that era. Steffan has accompanied many aging soldiers to former battlefields, including Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, friendship, news April 24, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Do Happily Married People Make Better Employees?

This past Friday’s Wall Street Journal highlighted a new hiring practice for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. When evaluating the fit of a free agent, team officials don’t just spend time with the player.They also invite and interview the particular player’s wife, assuming he’s married. As explained in the Journal:

Shahid Khan, the Jaguars’ new owner, who made his fortune in auto-parts manufacturing, said he had the idea because he tries to meet all of the spouses of his employees.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage, pop culture April 18, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Greying of Divorce

Exceptions to the norm naturally surprise us, like when we hear about a marriage of 40-plus years ending in divorce.

Do you know somebody who for no good reason has decided to walk away from their marriage of longstanding?

According to the research, approximately 4% of marriages that make it to 40 years will eventually end in divorce.

What would cause somebody to give up on their spouse after so many years together?

I think a lot of it is caused by the modern nature of marriage.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: divorce, marriage April 17, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to End Abortion Overnight

My friend Chuck Colson, who is making progress following surgery but still in ICU, published a provocative guest column a few weeks ago on his Breakpoint website. It was penned by a gentleman named Rolley Haggard. The writer made a bold pronouncement.

Here is a condensed version of what he wrote:

If every Sunday, in every pulpit, in every evangelical church across America, ministers would devote one minute—ONE MINUTE—to decrying the evil of abortion on demand, such universal solidarity within the ranks of Christian leadership would accomplish two things, maybe three.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith, pro-life April 16, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura