Family and Home Archives

Waffles and Spaghetti

Opposites attract. With a little communication, those differences usually can be navigated. But sometimes it’s differences in communication itself that are the problem.

Authors Bill and Pam Farrel offer a simple word picture to illustrate the distinction between how men and women communicate: Men are like waffles; women are like spaghetti.

Ladies are the spaghetti. The noodles run in random directions, and they all seem to touch each other. That’s a visual for the way women easily jump from one subject to another within a conversation.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage April 18, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Your Purpose in the Empty Nest Years

There’s a saying that every parent should give their children two gifts: roots and wings.

The days and weeks after our children leave home to carve their own path through life may feel uncomfortable for us, but our pain is actually a good sign. It indicates that we have a strong connection with our children and that their absence matters to us.

The challenge is not allowing our sadness to get in the way of our children stepping forward into life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage, parenting April 18, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Toughest Job in the World

Parenting is the toughest job in the world.

Why?

For one thing, you never truly master parenting. By the time you make sense of one stage of your kids’ lives, they’ve already moved on to the next. One minute you’re a Ph.D., the next minute you’re starting from scratch in “Parenting 101.”

Parenting is also tough because you can never resign or retire. From toddlerhood to adulthood, your role as a parent will change, but parenting itself never really ends.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 17, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Your Daughter Embrace Her Inner Beauty

The desire to be popular, pretty, or admired by other people starts early for girls.

Beauty and body image are now common concerns for girls as young as 10 years old. By age 17, 78% report feeling unhappy with their bodies.

My wife and I didn’t have the privilege of raising daughters, but Jean can attest to struggling with feeling comfortable in her own skin as a teen girl.

Truth be told, Eve was the first and only female to experience God’s love and acceptance while living in an environment free of competition with or comparison to anyone else.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting April 17, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Forgiveness, Not Vengeance

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful forces in the world.

So, why is it so hard to do?

Because, while we want mercy for ourselves, we want others to be held accountable.

Jesus told a story about a servant who owed the king a substantial debt of 10,000 talents. For reference, one talent was roughly equivalent to a year’s wages. A debt of 10,000 talents, then, meant the servant was hopelessly trapped in his miserable circumstances.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 13, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rethinking Your Parenting Strategies

A father told psychologist Michael Anderson, “You wouldn’t believe what my daughter has become. Ninety days ago, she was an A-student. She was in the church youth group and did anything we told her to do. Now she’s smoking and drinking, shoplifting, and does anything her friends tell her to do.”

Michael responded, “The only thing that has changed is who your daughter is listening to.”

In working with the family, Michael knew that the father had never encouraged his daughter to think for herself, only to follow instructions.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting April 13, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Breaking Bad Habits in Your Life

Few things in life are as good as we think they are.

Believe it or not, there’s even a scientific term for that phenomenon called the Better-Than-Average Effect. In short, our tendency is to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to.

We don’t sing as well as we think we do.

We don’t eat or exercise as healthy as we should.

We minimize our addictions.

We downplay our depression.

We believe that our marriages are healthier than they are.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 11, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Oregon Discriminates Against Christian Adoptive Parents

Once more, innocent children have become casualties in the ongoing cultural revolution.

The state of Oregon recently prohibited Jessica Bates, a mother of five, from becoming certified as a foster care parent.

Why?

Oregon’s Department of Human Services requires foster parents to “respect, accept and support the race, spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, disabilities, national origin, cultural identities, immigration status and socioeconomic status of a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department.”

As a Christian, Jessica told state officials that she respects everyone, but that she believes “God gives us our gender/sex and it’s not something we get to choose.” In other words, she cannot in good conscience support any effort to try and change one’s biological sex.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 10, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

See Each Other

What does intimacy look like in a thriving marriage?

Pronounce the word “intimacy” a little differently, and the answer becomes clearer. Instead of saying, “intimacy,” say, “Into me, see.”

The idea is that healthy couples “see into” each other’s hearts. They discover each other’s likes and dislikes, put each other’s needs above their own, and seek to better understand each other’s perspectives.

To create intimacy that will sustain your marriage across a lifetime, weave the following three virtues through every part of your relationship:

Always be honest with each other.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage April 10, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hunting for Hope and Happiness

From growing up dirt poor to becoming reality television superstars, Phil and Kay Robertson, of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, have experienced more than 50 years of ups and downs together.

Their first years as a couple were marred by poverty and alcohol abuse so severe that, at one point, Miss Kay kicked Phil out of the house. Their future together looked bleak.

What transformed them and their relationship? According to Phil: repentance.

He says:

“We look at the word ‘repent’ as a bad thing.