Family and Home Archives

Helping Teen Girls Love Their Family Well

Jessie Minassian knows the struggles teenage girls face. She’s an author, a speaker, and a blogger who is passionate about mentoring young women. And she lived through some challenging teen years herself.

At one point, Jessie went through such a difficult time that she plotted to run away from home. Her plan fell apart before she even stepped outside of her house, but it was a turning point in her life. She decided that if she was going to stay, she ought to “stay well” and make the most of her time with her family.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting February 15, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Showing True Love to Your Spouse

No word defines marriage quite like the word love. But what is love, really? Is it simply an emotion we feel? Or is it something deeper?

In some ways, it’s no surprise that we struggle to understand love. The word we use has become such a generic term that the richness of its meaning is often lost. That’s because in English there’s one word for love with a full spectrum of nuance. You can say, “I love my spouse,” and in the next breath say, “I love potato chips.” Same word.

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

Improving Your Sex Life to Improve Your Marriage

What kind of “sex-pectations” do you and your spouse have?

In the book Married Sex: A Christian Couple’s Guide to Reimagining Your Love Life, co-authors Gary Thomas and Debra Fileta define “sex-pectations” as beliefs about sex that couples have going into marriage.

Those expectations can often be unhealthy, shaped more by Hollywood than God’s Word. Aligning expectations with reality can be challenging for a couple. A great place to start is adopting a biblical perspective of sex and understanding the benefits of a healthy sex life to a couple’s relationship.

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

A Conversation with a “Mama Bear”

It was a great privilege to spend some time last week with our friends at the Virginia Family Foundation – an organization we’ve been proud to partner with over the past few decades.

During our time in Richmond, I had the opportunity to speak with Victoria Cobb, the foundation’s president – and Laura Murphy, a Virginia “Mama Bear” who was instrumental in confronting a local school board about inappropriate material in her child’s classroom.

I’m so grateful for Victoria and her team – and all the family policy councils across the country who champion family friendly policies.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family February 9, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Biblical Truths Your Kids Need to Know

What should be the main focus of parenting?

Scripture provides a clear job description for parents in Deuteronomy 6:7, which says “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Teaching your children God’s Word can happen in a structured setting like family devotions, but Scripture encourages parents to weave conversation about God into everyday life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, parenting February 7, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Speak Your Child’s Love Languages

What if you and your children each spoke different languages?

Imagine the challenges. How would you communicate? How would you express your love? Even if you repeatedly said the words, “I love you,” your child might never be able to fully receive your love on an emotional level. To communicate in a way that your child understands, you would need to learn to speak his or her language.

The truth is your child does speak his or her own language.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting February 3, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Dating Tips for Today’s Singles

Author Jonathan Pokluda confronts two myths that prevent men and women alike from making the most of their single and dating years.

First is that being single is merely a waiting period for something better. The truth is that singleness is not a problem to be fixed; it’s a gift to be used to live life more fully.

Jonathan tells Christian singles, “You will never be more uninhibited, more available, and more ready to serve God than you are right now as a single person.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, relationships February 2, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

My Search for a Father’s Love

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “My Search for a Father’s Love,” we’re sharing a conversation I had with Lynsi Snyder, the owner and president of the In-N-Out Burger chain of restaurants located in the western part of the United States.

Although her family’s wealth made life appear like a fairy tale to outsiders, Lynsi has had a difficult and, at times, heart-breaking journey. Her father died when she was 17 years old, which led her life into a downward spiral.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting January 31, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Greatest of These Is Love

You won’t want to miss our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Greatest of These Is Love.”

We’re airing a recorded talk by World War II Dutch resistance hero Corrie ten Boom. In the early 1940s, Corrie and her family risked their lives to help 800 Jewish people escape the Nazis.

In February 1944, Corrie and her family were arrested and imprisoned in Hitler’s concentration camps. Her 84-year-old father died in prison just ten days after their arrest.

Topics: Family and Home January 27, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Fueling Great Relationships with Others

My friend Matt learned the hard way how important other people can be to our lives.

In college, he pulled into a convenience store, threw open the door, and ran inside for a quick purchase. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite get his Chevy into park. It clicked out of gear, rolled backwards into a pole, and bent Matt’s open door completely in the opposite direction.

Instead of asking someone for help, he pounded his door shut with a sledgehammer.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 25, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura