Family and Home Archives

Thriving in the Early Years in Marriage

Most newlyweds view their marriage as an empty canvas. It’s a perfectly clean, white surface where a beautiful portrait of their marriage will appear.

The reality is usually quite different. Each of us enters into marriage with color already splashed across our canvas, colors that reflect a set of expectations we may not even realize we have. The influences on our marriage begin not during the dating phase or at the wedding, but with assumptions about relationships that are formed from childhood.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage September 8, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Kendrick Brother’s New Film “Show Me the Father” Highlights the Fundamental Importance of our Heavenly Father

Do you have a father story?

For good or bad, our dads cast a long shadow across our lives.

Readers of this blog likely know that my biological dad, stepdad and foster dad all let me down – and all by the time I turned 13.

While the majority of people may not have suffered from that degree of disappointment, sadly, my challenges coming from a broken home are no longer that unusual.

According to the most recent data, a quarter of children – or 17.4 million – live in a home without a dad.

A new documentary by the Kendrick Brothers (“War Room” & “Courageous”) aims to shine a bright light on the connection between our earthly, imperfect dads and our Heavenly Father, who can ultimately meet our every need.

It’s called, “Show Me the Father” and it opens this Friday, September 10th.

I was privileged to participate in the project, and have been praying that my story, warts and all, might minister to those who will be watching.

Stephen and Alex Kendrick see the film as a calling – not simply another creative project.

According to Stephen, “God said, ‘You need to make this documentary about fatherhood.’ So we moved forward by faith, and we were able to connect with some of the coolest, most emotional stories about fatherhood.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting September 8, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Meet the Former Marine Who Helped Save Nearly 12,000 People in Afghanistan

Chad Robichaux is a “man’s man.”

The former special forces Marine has served eight tours in Afghanistan, tackling the most dangerous and difficult of missions in the Middle East. A Medal of Valor recipient, Chad has more than served his time and paid his debt to America.

Nobody would blame him if he retired to a quiet beach or picturesque mountain town.

Instead, the founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation – a non-profit organization specializing in serving returning military personnel from Afghanistan – has slept an hour a day for the past two weeks.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith September 7, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding God’s Purpose for Your Life

Do you know your “why”?

People often begin a spiritual journey with these questions:

“How will I serve God?”“Where will I serve God?”“When will I serve God?”“What will be required of me when I pursue God’s will for my life?”

However, God’s purpose for your spiritual journey, for your work, and for your family starts with “why?”

Unless you first tackle the “why” question, everything else – your finances, your background, your education, your training, your age, and so on – becomes a mountain that prevents you from moving forward.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 6, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Learning to Say No

If your schedule looks anything like mine, then you are busy! Our world is fast paced. We’re booked solid with work, family, and obligations to our church and community. Keeping up takes constant effort and makes finding margin difficult.

A positive first step is recognizing that moments of rest are just as crucial to a healthy life as productivity. Even God the Father took time to rest (Genesis 2:2). So did Jesus (Matthew 14:23).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting September 3, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Offering Hope to Families Experiencing Drug Addiction

More than 70,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019. According to The Wall Street Journal, that number was 30% higher in 2020.

Numbers like that are the latest sad statistic from a culture of drug abuse that broke into the open in the 1960s and 1970s. The cost of illegal drugs in terms of crime, lost work productivity, and the impact on the health care system is estimated at $200 billion a year. To that figure, you can add another $80 billion from prescription drugs.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family September 1, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How You Can Join the Pro-Life Movement

Focus on the Family has been unashamedly pro-life since our inception 44 years ago. The affirmation of human life is one of our foundational principles, and I pray that however long the Lord allows our organization to exist, it will remain so.

You and I have an important part to play individually as well. Voting for pro-life candidates and supporting ballot initiatives is a good start. Yet, we often wish women with unplanned pregnancies, “Good luck,” from a safe distance.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: pro-life August 30, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Preparing Your Family for Any Life Situation

Several years ago, wildfires swept through an area not far from the Daly home. We were forced to evacuate.

Emergencies can strike any of us at any time. We’re never promised an easy life without worries. Where you live might be susceptible to wildfires, hurricanes, or tornadoes. And we all face the risk of job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or the death of a loved one. How we react to these situations is what’s important.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family August 27, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

GUEST POST: The Hope of Heaven: Lessons Learned After my Mom’s Death

We sat around the living room, trying to be productive while facing death. The date was Wednesday, October 28, 2020, and tomorrow would be my Mother’s long-awaited funeral. Her cousin, Andy Cook, a highly respected minister, was asking me and my family rapid fire questions about her life as he prepared to deliver the eulogy.

The conversation was like reopening an old wound. Mom had died six months earlier on April 19th, after a battle with cancer.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family August 25, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving and Leading Your Strong Woman

Fire can cook you a juicy steak. Or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness the power of fire.

It’s the same with a strong will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong-will gone wild can also wreak havoc.

If a woman isn’t in control of her strength, she can emasculate her husband.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 24, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura