Family and Home Archives

Government is our Servant – Not Our God

Friday’s passage in the House of Representatives of H.R. 5376, a.k.a. the “human infrastructure bill,” represents an unprecedented grasp of government overreach that threatens to undermine the institution of the family on a number of levels.

Deceptively titled “Build Back Better,” this $2 trillion piece of legislation will actually break the backs of future generations. The only thing it builds is a deepening dependence on Uncle Sam.

The “better” way is for the United States Senate to outright reject this bill.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 23, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Healing Parent and Adult Child Relationships

One of the top calls our counseling team receives is from parents who struggle with feelings of resentment, sadness, or anger because of a fractured relationship with their adult children. It’s heartbreaking.

It’s also common. A 2015 studyby Richard Conti of Kean University found that 43 percent of college students had been estranged from their parents at some point. Twenty-six percent reported extended estrangement.

When a parent/adult child relationship is fractured, the most effective solution is to redefine the boundaries.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting November 23, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Enjoying Mealtime as a Family

Over the past couple of decades, more studies than you can count have been done to pinpoint the most crucial factors in raising emotionally strong, well-balanced kids. Almost all of them have arrived at the same conclusion: Eating together as a family is one of the most significant influences in raising healthy, well-balanced kids.

The more families eat together, the less likely children will engage in drug use, suffer from depression, develop an eating disorder, or succumb to a host of other behavioral problems.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family November 22, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Planting the Seeds of Success in Your Kids

Parents often dream about their children becoming doctors, astronauts, or business executives. They help their children along that path by helping them develop specific talents or academic excellence.

The trouble with that approach, according to parenting expert Dr. Kevin Leman, is that it focuses on what our children will become, rather than who they’ll become.

To correct course, Dr. Leman offers parents eight strategies for raising successful kids:

Start with the end goal in mind.Expect the best, get the best.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids, parenting November 18, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rescuing Your Marriage from Pornography

Pornography destroys marriages.

It breeds disconnection instead of intimacy.It deepens secrecy.It creates distrust.

The data is astonishing. Josh McDowell did a study which revealed that 79 percent of men in the evangelical church use pornography at least once a month. Fifty-five percent of marriages are negatively impacted by pornography.

Many women are in pain because of their husband’s pornography use. They feel isolated, ashamed, hopeless, and helpless. They’ve tried many things to fight for their marriage – like being more sexual with him; being more patient, forgiving, or gracious; or creating a more loving environment.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage November 16, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Praying for Yourself Is Essential

For whom do you pray? Family? Friends? Leaders? Neighbors? All of the above?

Do you pray for yourself?

Some Christians don’t. They’re consumed by the needs of others. They find it easier to seek help on behalf of someone else than to seek it for themselves. Or they believe that praying for oneself is prideful.

Author Jodie Berndt says praying for yourself is essential. For one thing, prayer connects us to the Spirit of God. As the vine feeds its branches, and the branches bear fruit, so the Lord expresses His goodness through us into the lives of other people.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, prayer November 15, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How You Can Help Support Foster and Adoptive Families

November is National Adoption Month in the United States and Adoption Awareness Month in Canada. These observances highlight a great need.

In the United States, there are more than 400,000 children in foster care. Over 100,000 are waiting to be adopted.

Scripture teaches that each of us is called to care for the vulnerable. Other than a child in the womb, no one is more vulnerable than a child without a family. How can you help?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting November 8, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Captive Missionary’s Journey to Freedom

This coming Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This special day reminds us that Christians still suffer for their faith all around the world. Some even give their lives for believing in Jesus. We must not forget their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of all of those who risk life and limb for the Gospel’s sake.

Pastor Andrew Brunson and his wife, Norine, began serving as missionaries to Turkey in 1993, where only one out of every 16,000 people is a Christian.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 4, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Election ’21 Confirms – Mothers and Fathers Matter

Don’t mess with moms and dads – that’s the prevailing takeaway coming out of yesterday’s two major electoral races, especially in the state of Virginia.

Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s victory over former Governor Terry McAuliffe culminated a bruising campaign, with much of it focused on a rising backlash against the “woke” policies of the radical left.

At the current time, New Jersey’s gubernatorial race remains too close to call.

Pundits suggest the turning point of the race in Virginia came when Mr.

Topics: Current Events/ Family and Home Tags: events, family, parenting November 3, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Cultivating a Kingdom Marriage

The war epic Saving Private Ryan opens with one of the most riveting battle scenes in film history. It depicts in graphic detail the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. It’s a vivid depiction of heroic bravery and sacrifice.

I also think it depicts the spiritual battle that’s waging over your marriage and mine. Satan despises marriage, and he hopes to destroy each one he can. Trace human history back to the Garden, and you’ll see that Satan made his move against humanity after God brought Adam and Eve together in a union designed to reflect the relationship between Christ and His church and the intimacy shared between the Trinity.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage November 2, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura