Family and Home Archives

Don’t Give Up: Raising a Child with Autism

Imagine taking your four-year-old child to a nearby park. Other families greet your child, but there’s no response. Then, when it’s time to leave, your child says goodbye, but more so to the tables, and trees, and playground equipment than to the people.

Author Julie Homok described her baby girl Lizzie as happy, engaged, and developing normally. Then one day she started crawling into walls. What at first seemed like a funny accident became a disheartening realization that Lizzie was losing touch with the world around her.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting August 1, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Seeds into Flowers

If you’re getting married soon, which image best reflects your love for each other – a beautiful bouquet of flowers? Or a packet of seeds?

Some weddings are a flower extravaganza. There are flower centerpieces, elaborate flower decorations, and even a flower girl. And don’t forget the most important arrangement of all – the bridal bouquet. All those flowers are intended to represent the couple’s love: vibrant, alive, and in full bloom.

But the late Gary Smalley, who officiated a lot of weddings, used a unique illustration to help couples understand the true nature of their love.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 29, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Hope in the Messiah

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Finding Hope in the Messiah,” we’re listening to Lily Isaacs – vocalist and matriarch of the southern gospel and bluegrass group The Isaacs – share her testimony.

Lily was born in Europe after World War II to two Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors who moved the family to the United States when Lily was two years old. She grew up in the Bronx, NY and studied theater and performed off Broadway.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 29, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Truth of the Two Lauras

How many strokes of good luck does it take for a coincidence to become a miracle?

While you consider your answer, let me share the story of Laura Buxton. She was 10 years old in 2001 when she released a red balloon into the air over her hometown in Staffordshire, England. On a card attached to the balloon, she wrote, “Please return to Laura Buxton.” Her home address was on the other side.

A few weeks later, a man 140 miles away found the balloon stuck in his hedges.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 28, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When You Need Each Other Most

Airline passenger Becca Kinsey knew she had a problem the moment she stepped into the airport security line. She was a young mother forced to travel alone with her young boys, James and Wyatt, ages five and two. She was doing her best, but things got out of control, and she started to panic.

That’s when another young mom near Becca in line came to her rescue. She picked up one of Becca’s boys and helped Becca navigate through security.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 27, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving the Story of Your Marriage

Author Brad Rhoads never anticipated having trouble in his marriage. He and his wife, Marilyn, were so confident in their relationship that they were married within ten months of their first date and left a two-day marriage conference after just 30 minutes because they didn’t believe they needed guidance.

Their marriage faced trouble right away.

Brad blamed Marilyn. And Marilyn blamed Brad. She considered him a workaholic who devoted so much of himself to his law practice that he had nothing left to offer their marriage.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 27, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Respect for Marriage Act Actually Disrespects Marriage and its True Meaning

Last week’s vote in the House of Representatives to codify same-sex marriage under federal law in the event the Supreme Court reverses its Obergefell ruling of 2015 and someday sends the definition of marriage back to the states, is an election-year ploy and a political play that ignores what social science says about the multi-millennia institution.

It’s called H.R. 8404, or the “Respect for Marriage Act,” but like many other erroneously and incorrectly worded pieces of legislation (i.e., the “Women’s Health Protection Act”), it actually diminishes, undermines and disrespects the very thing it claims to protect. Its fate in the Senate remains an open question.

Please call the Senate switchboard today and urge your senators to vote NO on H.R.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 26, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Pass on Good Values

One of the most popular questions we get here at Focus on the Family is, “How do I pass my values on to my children?” Let me answer that question for you by sharing two important ideas.

First and foremost is family. You, mom and dad, are the most important influence in your kids’ lives. They’re watching you. Everything you say and do makes a profound impression on what your children say and do. So, model the values you hope your children will adopt as their own.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 26, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Cutting Costs

Do you and your spouse run out of money before you run out of month? The problem may not be how much money you have but how much money has you.

If you’re having a hard time managing your bank account, the best place to start is by examining how you perceive money. The importance money has in your life will control how you use it.

So, first, be careful that your identity isn’t wrapped up in material possessions.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family July 25, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Safe Place for Girls to Grow Up as Women

Organizations like the Girl Scouts of America (GSA) used to come alongside parents in reinforcing time-honored values that gave girls and young women a solid moral foundation upon which to build their lives.

But in the 1990s, moral relativism started changing that. The word “God” was removed from the GSA’s oath. The curriculum stopped promoting traditional values. And GSA leadership began adopting a pro-homosexual political agenda.

In the midst of that turmoil, serving the GSA and the girls it represented was Patti Garibay, a local troop leader.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting July 25, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura