Family and Home Archives

Showing Love to Your Child Every Day

You love your children, and you want to express it well. Some days you feel happy with how you connect. Other days, you get caught up in the “everyday-ness” of life. Between work and meals and keeping up with schedules, you’re busy and not as intentional about showing love to your kids as you’d like to be.

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Showing Love to Your Child Every Day,” author Julie Lavender shares how to show love to your child and create special memories in the midst of the busyness of life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting January 6, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Getting a Handle on Your Family Finances

You’ve probably noticed that you and your spouse don’t always see eye-to-eye. Maybe one of you talks too much – or not enough. Or one of you feels hot while the other is shivering cold. Or maybe one of you is a saver and the other is a spender.

If you’re not careful, those differences – especially that last one – can drive you apart. Petty disagreements about money can easily turn into full-grown battles that bleed a relationship dry.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family January 4, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Decreasing CDC Abortion Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story

Headlines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) heralding the claim there were over 10,000 fewer abortions in 2019 as compared to 2018 suggests abortion is on the retreat.

Unfortunately, such a report is misleading – and for several reasons.

First, media often fail to distinguish between abortions reported versus performed. California along with a few other states and the District of Columbia haven’t reported any abortions for years. So, in reality, we have no way of knowing specific numbers in those areas – but what we do know is that abortion clinics in those areas remain very busy.

In addition – and this is the most significant shift in years – chemical abortions (the killing of pre-born children by taking a drug called mifepristone) are rising rapidly.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: pro-life January 3, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Effective Habits to Embrace in Parenting

There’s an old saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything will look like a nail after a while.

That’s why in the toolbox in your garage you’ll find hammers, screwdrivers, and different sized wrenches – tools with very particular uses for specific problems around the house.

With that in mind, let me ask you: What kind of tools are in your parenting toolbox?

There isn’t one tool to rule them all.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting December 31, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

GUEST POST: New Year: New Hurts, New Hopes – Next Steps

Christmastime brings family together, and that’s a good thing.

As an old year closes and a new one opens, December celebrations hopefully leave us with rich and positive memories. Yet sometimes all the family togetherness also leaves us with disappointment or a new burden to bear.

Maybe you are reveling in some positive holiday afterglow. That’s good – soak it up. Family is one of the greatest joys because good relationships can reflect a foretaste of the Divine. At the same time, we aren’t in Heaven and therefore relational strain, “growth opportunities” and downright abusive situations must be faced.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 29, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving Your Spouse Through the Seasons of Marriage

What “season” is it for your marriage? Is it summer because things are warm and sizzling with your spouse? Or is it winter because things feel a little chilly?

I remember how it felt when Jean and I fell in love. Like many couples in a new relationship, we enjoyed being together every chance we could and daydreamed about seeing each other when we couldn’t. It was easy to think, “We’ll always feel this way!”

But relationships are like the weather; they change.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 28, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Words of Kindness, Source of Healing

One day, well into her adult years, Florence Littauer’s dad invited her into a tiny back room of the little store he’d operated for decades, reached into a hiding place behind an upright piano against a back wall, and retrieved an old cigar box.

Inside were a handful of articles he had published in the local paper. Until then, Florence had no idea her father was a writer. He’d never discovered his true potential because no one had ever encouraged him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 27, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Women who Welcomed the Birth of Jesus

Merry Christmas! I’m sure you’re looking forward to time with your family as you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ tomorrow.

Today, we’re bringing you a special message by popular author and speaker Liz Curtis Higgs, sharing at one of our staff chapels about how the very first Christmas in Bethlehem changed the world forever. That’s a familiar story, of course, but with a blend of biblical truth and a great sense of humor, Liz provides a fresh perspective through the eyes of the first women to meet baby Jesus.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 24, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Spiritual Battle for Your Marriage

As Christians, we orient our lives according to the Bible. We believe that God exists (Romans 1:20) and that He commands a host of angels who do His will (Luke 2:13-14) and who worship Him without ceasing (Revelation 4:8).

Yet, when it comes to spiritual warfare, we’re double-minded. We believe that the devil and his angels exist (Matthew 25:41), but we rarely acknowledge their influence in our daily affairs.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage December 23, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: Merry Christmas!

Christmas traditions vary by family and organization, but I wanted to share a new one from the Focus campus here in Colorado Springs.

For the first time ever, we planted and lit a 30 foot evergreen tree here at the front of our property. We also dedicated and lit a beautiful new creche beside it.

Just a week after the lighting, a massive windstorm of 100 mph gusts blew through the town, toppling ten other trees on our property.

The Focus Christmas tree survived!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family December 22, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura