Family and Home Archives

Faith and Fortune Cookies

He was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, a Jewish son of Nettie and Martin, and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

As a child, he sparred with his tough-minded mother, who worked in a delicatessen at the same time his father toiled away as an accountant. There was always tension in the family, a functional dysfunction. His parents didn’t get along, and they stumbled through a rocky marriage.

As a young boy, Allan attended Hebrew school for eight years, spoke Yiddish and found his niche making people laugh, most likely out of self-preservation and as a way to make sense of the senseless.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 22, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Two Things to Help Your Children in School

Where and how do your children learn best? When it comes to optimal learning environments and personal study habits, most of us have assumed that a concentrated session, in a quiet room, is the most effective way to learn.

Not according to the research: Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting September 20, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Media Alert: FOX News Interview

Just a quick note:

I would appreciate your prayers for my upcoming trip to New York City and an appearance on FOX News.

I’m privileged to be scheduled to join former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee tomorrow, Saturday September 18th, on his popular television program.The show airs on FOX News at 8:00 PM EDT.

Would love to have you tune in! Among the topics to be discussed during the interview will be my latest book, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength (David C Cook, September 2010).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, staff September 17, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When I Am Weak

As promised, here is the first chapter of my new book, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

Thanks for reading along!

Chapter 1: When I Am Weak

This isn’t how it works in the movies.

On a chilly Sunday morning in December, David Works and his family—his wife, Marie, and daughters Stephanie, Laurie, Rachel, and Grace—finish worshipping at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

As usual, they stay after the service to enjoy conversation with friends.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, promos September 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

An Interesting Way to Pray

“Writing a book is an adventure,” wrote Winston Churchill.

“To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.”

Leave it to Sir Winston Churchill to paint a colorful picture with words.

On a related note, the mistress crack notwithstanding, today is September 1st, the official release date of my new book, written with Jim Lund, from Cook Communications, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, family September 1, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Praying for Persecution?

“Writing a book is an adventure,” wrote Winston Churchill.

Leave it to Winston Churchill to paint a colorful picture with words.

But on a related note, the mistress crack notwithstanding, today is September 1st, the official release date of my new book from Cook Communications, Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 1, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Holding Your Child Back

What parent wants to deliberately hold his or her child back?

According to an essay in this past Friday’s Wall Street Journal, quite a few.

Writing on the Opinion page of the Weekend Journal, Bostonian Jennifer Graham points to a growing trend of parents who are deciding to keep their child back a year or two, for all kinds of reasons. Some do so because they think their children aren’t quite ready, be it academically, emotionally or even athletically.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting August 31, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

If I Were a Teacher…

The calendar still suggests summer, but in certain parts of the country, there is a touch of fall in the air. Here in Colorado Springs, we had our first 40 degree night in months just yesterday.

There is another sign of the coming change: in our family, the boys have headed back to school. Trent is now in the 4th grade and his younger brother, Troy, started 2nd.

I am grateful, of course, to see our boys grow and mature.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting August 25, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

My New Book

Just an FYI: I have a new book coming out September 1st.

It’s called Stronger: Trading Brokenness for Unbreakable Strength.

The content comes straight from my heart, dealing with the challenges associated with embracing the hardships of life in order to learn what God would teach us through tough times.

The book is filled with incredible stories of people who have faced some very difficult hurdles. I’ll be sharing some of it in this space, but it’ll be available through Focus on the Family or wherever books are sold.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, staff August 24, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Never Give Up On Life

Derek Redmond is a retired British track and field star. His career was plagued by injuries. Ironically, he’s probably best remembered and beloved for a race he didn’t win at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

The following video may have been shot 18 years ago, but could this be a message and reminder you need to see today?

Never give up on life!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, pop culture August 23, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura