Family and Home Archives

Friendship or Flirtation

Marriages everywhere are at risk because of one of the most powerful drugs known to man – called infatuation.

Maybe you don’t think of infatuation as a drug. But Dave Carder, who has spent the past 30 years studying the causes of infidelity, says infatuation is as powerful as any substance out there.

If you think that’s overstated, consider this: when someone walks away from their family for an affair, you probably ask yourself: “What were they thinking?”

According to Dave, they weren’t thinking.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage November 17, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How a Dysfunctional Street Kid Became a Disciple of Jesus

Our guest on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “How a Dysfunctional Street Kid Became a Disciple of Jesus” is Greg Stier, an evangelist, author, and the founder of Dare2Share, a youth evangelism and leadership training ministry.

Greg’s life story is an amazing tale of how the Lord worked through his toxic upbringing to draw him to Christ.

Greg grew up in a community in northern Denver that was a tinderbox of racial tension, and where fights, gunshots, and knifings were common.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 16, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

National Adoption Month

Few experiences are as comforting and connecting as a family gathered around the Thanksgiving table. Fellowship with family and giving thanks to God for His many blessings are things we look forward to in the Daly household every year.

But the holidays weren’t like that for me growing up. My mother died when I was young and my stepfather abandoned me and my siblings, so Thanksgiving was anything but a peaceful family holiday. Mostly I remember feeling disconnected from everything that was happening around me.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, parenting November 16, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Keys to Your Purpose

If you have a hard time facing Mondays, your problem may be a lack of purpose.

Behavioral researcher John Calhoun performed an experiment with mice that was designed to study the effects of overpopulation. He set up a biosphere that was essentially a Garden of Eden for rodents. They were given everything they needed to thrive: shelter, open space to run and play, and unlimited food and water. Even their bedding was routinely changed to provide an ideal nesting environment for baby mice.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 14, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Veterans Day 2022: Honoring My Friend & Marine Corps Captain Tony Wauterlek

On this Veterans Day, I would like to pay tribute to a dear friend, a former longtime Focus on the Family board member, and a remarkable man who embodies the motto of the Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis – “Always faithful.”

Tony Wauterlek, now 85, served for five years as a captain in the United States Marine Corps. A pilot with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, he flew jet fighters between 1960 and 1965.

It might surprise you to learn that until Tony signed up to serve following his graduation from the University of Illinois, he had never flown in an airplane.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 10, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Identifying Your Strengths as a Parent

What’s your ideal image of the perfect parent?

Is it a mom pulling fresh-baked cookies out of the oven right as her children come home from school?

Is it a dad in the yard with a couple of baseball mitts and a ball, inviting his son to come out and play?

Or maybe you imagine someone who’s never too busy, who never raises their voice, and who never gets annoyed or distracted.

Authors Brandon and Analyn Miller remember a season of their parenting when nothing seemed to get them closer to their ideal vision of parenting despite access to an abundance of advice and parenting resources.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting November 10, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Appreciate the Moment

Most self-help advice focuses on the future – on what will be. Set goals. Plan ahead. Dream of where you wish you were instead of where you are.

Those are great ideas but let me share just one word of caution: don’t focus so intently on your future that you forget to be engaged right here, right now. This moment may never come again.

The importance of appreciating the moment is illustrated in the life of Wally Pipp, a man you probably won’t recognize unless you’re a major league baseball historian.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith November 10, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Setting Boundaries in Your Most Difficult Relationships

Relationships are the most rewarding experiences this side of heaven. But any relationship can present challenges. And when they do, the best approach for restoring peace and harmony is boundaries.

God himself demonstrated why and how to create boundaries. He gave Adam and Eve just one: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). It communicated four important ideas about relationships:

Boundaries define and protect freedom. God’s boundary protected Adam and Eve for their own good.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family November 8, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Get a Job

If you have a teenager who’s not working a job, the question is, “Why?” Working a job will bring out qualities in your teenager that you won’t always see from them at home.

When teenagers work – whether it’s scooping ice cream, working the drive-thru at a fast-food place, or cashiering at a grocery store – they’re developing valuable life skills. They’ll learn to submit to authority and to handle responsibly when they’re in charge. They’ll learn how to serve others and to be accountable for their choices.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting November 8, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Building Blocks for Self-Confidence

For children to build their self-confidence, they need opportunities to succeed on their own. But that can’t happen if parents overprotect their kids from every risk.

A few years back, my son Trent and I visited Yosemite National Park, and we got the chance to rappel down a 180-foot granite cliff called the “Prowl.” Trent isn’t usually much of a daredevil, but when our turn came, he didn’t hesitate. He gave me a big grin and over the edge he went.

Topics: Family and Home November 4, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura