Daly Focus Blog
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. In popular accounts from the time, Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in a barn. The small flame became an inferno that destroyed miles of homes and burned Chicago’s business district to the ground.
More recently, in 2018, the Ranch Fire in California became the largest wildfire in the state’s history, killing a firefighter and burning over 410,000 acres. It was caused by a single spark from a hammer that someone was using to drive a metal stake into the ground.
Dr. Kevin Leman says strong-willed children are given a bad rap. We want to raise our kids to be strong-willed. When the world tells them, “Believe this,” or “Do that,” we want our children to know right from wrong and to have the strength of conviction to stand for it.
What we don’t want to raise, Dr. Leman says, is what he calls a “powerful child.” Powerful children have an agenda. They want to win, to control, and to dominate.
Previously published in the Washington Examiner:
Make no mistake – parents will play a major part in this year’s midterm elections, which may well upend current dynamics and potentially recast the direction and priorities of the nation.
Throughout our nation’s history, mothers and fathers have served as something of a bellwether in America. Political elites may jockey and joust with one another, often behind closed doors, but their policies are felt and then ultimately received or rejected by the families whom they affect.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
