Family and Home Archives

Until We Meet Again

My good friend and colleague, Bart Phillips, died last Thursday night. He was buried yesterday under a warm and cloudless Colorado summer sky. At just 41 years-old, Bart was in love with life. As husband to Suzi and father to three boys, ages 12, 9 and 8, he had a lot for which to be grateful.

His personal email even reflected one of his great passions; bringingupboys@_______.

When word came to me that Bart had collapsed inside his home on Thursday night and had been rushed to the ER, I joined several of Bart’s other close friends from Focus at the local hospital to pray.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: friendship August 19, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Power of Love

I want to tell you a story.

It’s a simple and true account, about a recent opportunity I had to introduce a colleague to a new and exciting love.

Admittedly, the meeting came about like a bolt out of the blue, a serendipitous encounter up in Parker, Colorado.

At the time, we were hustling our way to Denver International Airport. Our car was full. We all had a lot on our minds: traffic, parking, how I would get through the security lines with a plate in my broken ankle and crutches under my arms, not to mention the upcoming meetings on the other side of the flight.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, humor August 18, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Marriage is as Much a Responsibility as a Fundamental Right

The local newspaper usually reflects the heartbeat of the community.

Usually, though not always.

The Colorado Springs Gazette is our hometown publication. They do a great job covering our area despite the fact they have a shrinking staff of writers. Last week, the libertarian minded editorial board officially endorsed same-sex marriage. The editors graciously offered me an opportunity to respond in this past Sunday’s edition.

Here is the essay; I welcome your thoughts.

Marriage is as Much a Responsibility as a Fundamental Right

By Jim Daly

The Gazette’s recent endorsement of gay marriage makes the same mistakes on a number of issues that we’re accustomed to seeing from active proponents for the issue.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: homosexuality, kids, marriage August 16, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Susan’s Story

Although it seems like a distant memory now, it was only a few months ago that Focus on the Family’s “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” ad aired during the Super Bowl. Rather than being confrontational, as some critics had speculated, it was actually an upbeat celebration of the bond between Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother, Pam. A few days after the Super Bowl, the Barna Group released data showing that more than 5 million people reconsidered their position on the issue of abortion after viewing the ad!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: pop culture, pro-life, staff August 12, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Seven Predictors of Divorce

I last shared Dr. Gottman’s six predictors of marital success and happiness. Here now are his top warning signs of coming marital strife:

1. Harsh Start of Arguments

The partner who starts the argument is aggressive or hostile, is insulting, attacks his partner’s character, uses sarcasm, shows contempt or disgust—all of which lead to escalation or withdrawal.

2. Criticism

Attacking character or traits, instead of addressing the problem specifically.

3. Contempt

Disgust, disrespect, condescension, sarcasm, eye-rolling.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: divorce, marriage, relationships August 12, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Six Predictors of Marital Success and Happiness

How’s your marriage?

According to Dr. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington and the founder of the Gottman Relationship Institute, there are several things to consider when gauging the health of your marriage.

Here they are:

1. High Levels of Friendship, Respect, Affection, and Humor

This is defined as liking each other, being each other’s best friend, doing things together; showing interest in and respect for the other’s thoughts and feelings, avoiding put-downs, supporting each other’s goals and aspirations, feeling affection for each other, having fun and laughter together, being Number One in each other’s eyes.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: relationships August 10, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Family Update

Some of you may have heard or read about Focus on the Family reducing its budget by $27 million for the upcoming year. Of course, we’re hardly alone. Nearly every ministry, organization and corporation in America has been forced to deal squarely with today’s challenging economic times.

In order to balance the books, we’ve trimmed 13% of our staff, which means we’ll be saying good-bye to 110 of our friends and colleagues in these coming days and weeks.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, finances, staff August 3, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Good Inventions Go Bad

It’s a product of the fallen nature of man:

Anything and everything that was created for good, from medicine to technology, will eventually be corrupted for ill purposes.
A recent case in point: A new “video conferencing” feature made exclusively for Apple’s iPhone. It’s called FaceTime. Here is how the company is promoting it:

People have been dreaming about video calling for decades. iPhone 4 makes it a reality. With the tap of a button, you can wave hello to your kids, share a smile from across the globe, or watch your best friend laugh at your stories — iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, sex, technology July 30, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Arguing Happily Ever After

Somebody once said there are two types of married couples – those who argue (from time to time) and those who lie and say they don’t.

There was an interesting article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that suggests it’s not if we argue, but how we argue that will determine the overall health of our marriages.

All couples disagree – it’s how they disagree that makes the difference,” reports Howard Markman, professor of psychology at the University of Denver and co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: husband, marriage, wife July 28, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Bigotry and Marriage

Frank Rich is a long-time columnist for The New York Times. As a former drama critic, he’s no stranger to the stage and certainly knows how to stir the pot. He once referred to the Passion of the Christ film as “a porn movie, replete with slo-mo climaxes and pounding music for the money shots.”

Mr. Rich has been a frequent critic of evangelical Christianity. Focus on the Family has born the brunt of his sharp pen several times, but as an opinion columnist, he gets paid to share his perspective, and that’s part of what makes America great.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: homosexuality, marriage July 22, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura