Family and Home Archives

Restoring the Broken Pieces of Our Lives

Author Elisa Morgan remembers the day she heard a loud crash somewhere in the house and discovered her three-shelf hutch had fallen from the wall and shattered her late grandmother’s antique china collection into pieces on the floor. The worst part was realizing that she could do nothing to fix it.

As she swept up the broken shards, other moments came to mind when something precious to her shattered beyond repair.

The first time was when she was five years old, and her parents announced their divorce.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith March 29, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Cherish Your Spouse, Change Your Marriage

“…to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”

Couples often recite vows like this at their wedding. But no sooner do they walk the gauntlet of flying rice afterward than the word “cherish” begins to fade from their vocabulary. They don’t mean for it to happen, but the months and years go by, they settle into the daily routine of life, and they wake one day with a marriage that’s missing something deeper and more satisfying.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage March 27, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Experiencing God’s Mercy After Leaving the Abortion Industry

Abby Johnson describes God’s mercy as “fierce” – that is, His mercy is marked by unrestrained zeal, intensity, and highly determined activity.

Abby experienced God’s “fierce mercy” after working for eight years as an employee and clinical director for Planned Parenthood. God transformed her life in 2009 when Abby assisted with an ultrasound-guided abortion. She watched in horror as a 13-week baby lost its life to the abortionist. In that moment, the scales fell from Abby’s eyes, and she realized the ugly reality of abortion.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: pro-life March 22, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Answering Questions About Sex in Marriage

Sexual intimacy in marriage can be complicated.

Many couples’ physical relationships are centered around one central question: What makes me feel good? Even couples who avoid self-centeredness often feel disappointed with their partner’s shortcomings. There are also physical changes, medical issues, and emotional challenges that interrupt our lives from time to time. As we get older, the realm of sex changes drastically within a marriage relationship.

Which can leave couples with a lot of questions.

We’ve got answers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage March 16, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Trusting God That Hope Is on the Way

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Trusting God That Hope Is on the Way,” our guest, Dove and Grammy Award-winning Christian alternative and rap figurehead TobyMac, is sharing his journey of faith, family, and music, and encouraging listeners to find hope in God through difficulty, loss, and tragedy.

TobyMac has suffered plenty of all three. His oldest son Truett, an aspiring rapper, died tragically at age 21 in 2019 after a drug overdose.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith March 15, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Fun Ways to Instill Virtue in Your Children

Instilling virtue in our children can be pretty serious business. After all, the adult world is a competitive place, and we want kids to be prepared.

Unfortunately, the desire to raise our children can lead to harsh standards that smother them. At report card time, a nearly straight-A student may be asked why they didn’t get that one grade a little higher. Or a teenager who displays the slightest sign of irresponsibility may get a 15-minute lecture.

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

Accepting My True Identity in Christ

I encourage you to join us for our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Accepting My True Identity in Christ” with guest Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.

It was in college on her path to academia and an earned Ph.D. in English literature, that Rosaria first noticed her interest in women. At age 28, she came out as a lesbian. Like many – perhaps most – who identify as homosexual, her pronouncement didn’t come with a political agenda.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith March 8, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Changed in a Moment

Even when life is dark, one moment can change everything.

That was beautifully illustrated in a social media post watched over 30 million times in just a few days. The video captures the moment that a marriage was rescued.

In the video, Caitlin and her soon-to-be ex-husband are celebrating their three-year-old son’s birthday. The little boy’s eyes light up when he sees his cake, covered with candles. Then, Caitlin’s husband looks into her eyes … and his eyes lit up, with love for her.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage March 6, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Combating the Lies That Can Destroy Your Marriage

Satan wants to destroy your marriage.

That’s no scare tactic. Satan hates marriage because a loving, committed couple who use their gifts to serve each other and their community is one of the most powerful forces on Earth. Strong, healthy, god-fearing marriages produce strong, healthy, god-fearing families and communities.

To corrupt marriages, Satan attacks couples through lies that promote unhealthy fairy-tale expectations and destructive relationship myths.

Dr. Greg Smalley and Dr. Bob Paul have seen these lies at work in many couples’ marriages.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage March 6, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Happiness is No Accident

Is a happy marriage possible?

I believe the answer to that question is yes. But there is a catch: happiness isn’t dependent on good things happening to you. It’s dependent on you choosing to be happy.

Author Kevin Thompson learned that happy marriages are no accident by observing his grandparents. They were married for 70 years! After such a long time together, a lot of people suggested that they were “lucky” to have so many things go their way.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith March 3, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura