Family and Home Archives

Encouraging Marriages in Your Sphere of Influence

What’s your favorite song?

One reason it’s probably your favorite is because you enjoy hearing the vocals of the lead singer. But more than you realize, another cast of characters is just as important as the lead: the backing singers. Their chorus of voices harmonize with the lead and give the song a beauty, richness, and texture the main vocalist could never achieve alone.

What if every marriage had backing singers? Imagine a church where every follower of Jesus served as a backing singer to someone’s marriage – a chorus of voices uniting to strengthen the marriages of everyone around them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 26, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Twenty-Five Years and Still in Love

Before Bob Kraning died in April 2020, he and his wife Carol were married for over sixty years. When it comes to enjoying a happy relationship, you might say that they had a lifetime of experience.

Whenever I hear about a couple like that, I can’t help but wonder, “What’s their secret?”

Bob provides answers in a recorded message we’re airing on our Focus on the Family Broadcast called “Twenty-Five Years and Still in Love.” Bob’s and Carol’s “secrets” are actually timeless truths available to all of us.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 21, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Effective Habits to Embrace in Parenting

What kind of tools are in your parenting toolbox?

In a regular toolbox, like the one in your garage, you’ll find hammers, screwdrivers, and different sized wrenches – tools with very particular uses for specific problems around the house. There’s an old saying: if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything will look like a nail after a while.

There isn’t one tool to rule them all.

It’s the same with parenting. Some moms and dads only have one tool in their parenting toolbox that they use in every situation – like anger, overly strict rules, or permissiveness.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting July 19, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

GUEST POST: The Example We Set

By David Kier

“…in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” Titus 2:7-8 NASB®

In my early years at college, I met a few guys from out east who had brand new fancy cars and really nice clothes and wondered why they were at a small midwestern college.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 15, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Making Virtues a Daily Part of Your Family Life

One of your most important responsibilities as a parent is to pass your faith and values on to your children. It may also be one of your most challenging tasks. A shocking turn of events at the 2008 Summer Olympics illustrates why.

Both the U.S. men’s and women’s 4 x 100 relay teams were expected to compete for the gold medal. Instead, neither team made it to the finals. Their exit from competition wasn’t because another country outran them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family July 14, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Getting on the Same Team Financially in Marriage

My wife and I approach recipes differently. Jean has a degree in biochemistry. She’s smart and sees life as a series of precisely calculated moves. To her, recipes are a detailed road map to be carefully followed. If the instructions call for one cup of flour, she’ll measure exactly one cup. She’ll even use a knife to scrape off the excess.

I’m more of a free spirit with recipes. I don’t see them as “a roadmap to follow” as much as “a few things to keep in mind.” I kinda, sorta measure ingredients, but not very carefully.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: finances, marriage July 13, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Experiencing God’s Healing Hand

Have you ever witnessed a miraculous healing? You’re about to!

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Experiencing God’s Healing Hand,” you’ll hear the actual moment when Pastor Duane Miller’s throat was healed, after three years of only being able to speak in a whisper.

In January 1990, Duane became sick with influenza. He spent 10 days in bed with his throat swollen shut as if someone was squeezing his windpipe. Medication helped, but for three years, Duane could only whisper.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith July 12, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Spiritual Battle for Your Marriage

You thought you married the perfect person. Then, over time, you began to notice flaws. Your spouse wasn’t as kind and loving as they used to be. Now you fight with each other, you blame each other, and you never really discuss tough issues because that leads to more conflict. You wonder if you made a mistake.

What if there’s something deeper going on? Is it possible that Satan is attacking your marriage and you’re experiencing spiritual warfare?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 9, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

GUEST POST: How to Raise an Anti-Woke Daughter

By: Michelle Easton

How can you be sure your daughter remains a conservative woman of faith once she leaves your home? Given toxic social media, radical indoctrination in schools, and a popular culture that promotes non-traditional values, parents can’t assume she’ll stay conservative because she went to church. The best parenting mimics the way our heavenly Father loves his children, so our default parental setting should be to return to the immutable and transcendent Judeo-Christian truths that shaped America’s founding.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting July 6, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Leaving a Legacy of Love

Bill Butterworth had something of an awakening when his father died.

At the funeral, Bill stood behind the lectern and spoke as the family representative. As important as what he shared about his father is what he didn’t share about his father.

Bill didn’t mention his father’s career or his real estate holdings. He didn’t talk about his father’s bank account or his stock portfolio. Instead, he shared about what his father believed and valued, and recounted some of the meaningful life lessons his father had taught him.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family July 6, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura