Daly Focus Blog
I’d like you to meet Alice Ozma. She is 23 years-old and graduated as valedictorian of her class at Rutgers University with a degree in literature.
Impressive, to be sure, but that’s not the story nor the punch line. This is:
When Alice was 9 years-old, her mother left her father. Heartbroken and faced with the reality of being a single dad and raising a daughter alone, Jim became concerned that time and circumstance would pull him and Alice apart.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Do you like statistics? A recent issue of Parade magazine featured dozens of facts and figures, from the best sports city (Chicago) to the skinniest state (Colorado). Also included were some numbers and trends related to marriage and family.
I thought I’d share some of them with you here and invite your comment:
Marriage Figures
54.1 percent of adults reported being married in 2010
2.1 million marriages took place in 2009.
17% of people who married in the past three years met online.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
When was the last time you were angry with someone you loved? When was the last time someone you loved, rightly or wrongly, thought you were angry with them?
Just the other day, I was upstairs in our house. I heard Trent and Troy being boys downstairs, which means they were having some fun, running and chasing each other from one room to the next. Suddenly, I heard a door slam. Trent had slipped into the bathroom, hoping to hide from Troy.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
On this, the 60th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer, I’d like to share two stories with you that accentuate and highlight the necessity of daily conversation with God.
Both of them involve little children, who are always some of life’s best teachers.
As little Deborah sat down to eat dinner with her parents she instinctively reached for her fork. “Please hold on,” her father replied. “We haven’t said grace yet.” This exasperated the girl, who was tired and hungry.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
I hope you’ve been tuning into our three-day program with best-selling author, Eric Metaxas. We’ve been discussing his biography of Nazi resistance leader Dietrich Bonhoeffer, titled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.
Monday’s program is available by clicking here; Tuesday here and today, here. For now, I’d like to share with you a review of Eric’s book that was originally published in Citizen Magazine.
The Road to Freedom
From beginning to end, the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer reads like something of an implausible if not impossible script:
A dashing young German genius receives his Ph.D.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Are you in the mood to laugh?
My last post dealt with a recent request by atheists to obtain chaplaincy roles within the United States Military. To be sure, that’s no laughing matter. We know salvation of the unbeliever, even an atheist, is an important situation. However, did you know that the legendary actor and comedian, Steve Martin, is now out with a new bluegrass song about atheists and music?
The song is part of the album, Rare Bird Alert, which he produced with his bluegrass band, The Deep Canyon Rangers.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: pop culture by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
A colleague forwarded me a news article the other day written by James Dao of The New York Times. My friend kept his own comments brief. “This is not a parody,” he wrote. I was intrigued. After all, this was the Times, not the Onion, why would he need to qualify it in that manner?
The piece was titled, “Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military.”
I quickly understood the context of my friend’s note.
“Strange as it sounds,” Dao wrote, “groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy, hoping to give voice to what they say is a large — and largely underground — population of nonbelievers in the military.”
Existing chaplains are generally opposed to the idea, for obvious reasons.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
The news of Osama Bin Laden’s death last night came suddenly and without warning. After nearly ten long years, many had wondered if the world’s most wanted man would die of old age. Instead, he died as he lived, violently, shot and killed by highly trained special forces of the United States.
It is appointed once unto man to die, but few people actually know how or when their end will come. Still, Jesus’ warning in Gethsemane regularly rings true when it comes to despots, dictators and terrorists.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: news by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
The Bishop of London’s Sermon at the Royal Wedding
Westminster Abbey
29th April 2011
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day!
Topics: Family and Home Tags: church, marriage by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
Come April 29th, the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be televised by every major network and cable news channel. It will be viewed all over the world. Over one million people are expected to travel to London, if only to catch a glimpse and play their part.
Why? What is it about the royal wedding that pulls so many people in?
To some degree, it is, of course, the substance of the classic fairy tale: beauty, romance, nobility and prestige, not to mention the hope and expectation of a happy marriage and life.
Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage, news by Jim Daly with Paul Batura
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.Home
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