Daly Focus Blog
Do you have a teen in high school who’s just beginning to think about and make plans for the future? There are a lot of factors to consider. Their talents, interests, and God’s direction all play a part. Do they have goals or sense of purpose? Will they strike out into the workforce or go to college?
It’s an exciting time. But so many changes looming on the horizon can be scary as well. And most teenagers will need their parents’ guidance to help them sort through their options.
As we’ve been sharing with you for the past week, our friend Steven Curtis Chapman has released a powerful new song – “Glorious Unfolding”!
If you haven’t heard it yet (or seen the accompanying video), I’d encourage you to take a moment right now to enjoy it. I believe you’ll be moved as you pause and consider the larger story God is telling through your life.
Steven based his lyrics on Jeremiah 29:11: “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to give you hope and a future.’”
At times, God’s story will lift us to glorious mountaintops.
When people experience tragedy, “Why?” is probably the most common question they ask.
Can you relate?
Maybe that’s because trauma shakes our lives to the core, leaving us so disoriented and confused that nothing seems to make sense. It’s only natural, then, that we wonder, “Why me?” or “Why did this have to happen?”
It was a question Lindsey O’Connor’s family had to wrestle with after she experienced complications post childbirth and slipped into a lengthy coma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNQKAF9LdB8
Giving is down and key ministries are at risk. You can help by showing your support at www.focusonthefamily.com/summer2014.
Our family is visiting Mt. Rushmore this 4th of July weekend. In the visitor center Tom Brokaw narrates a film about Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who carved the four Presidents’ images—Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt and Lincoln—into the granite. Brokaw says of those who worked on the mountain, “… these were ordinary men accomplishing extraordinary things.”
It made me think of our Christian faith. Yes, we are ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things through Christ. In fact, this testimony came to us this week.
Many weddings take place in the month of June. It’s a happy time of starry-eyed couples pledging each other a lifetime of love and commitment. It’s a beautiful phase of a romantic relationship – one full of promise and hope.
And marriage is great. There is great joy in living life with your best friend. But as husbands and wives know, there are also challenges to being married. Sometimes that shiny and new marriage gets some dings and dents as the years go by.
The broadcast team and I are working on a program to honor our pastors, and we’d like your help.
As you may know, Focus celebrates Clergy Appreciation Month every October, a time when congregations can recognize the sacrifices, hard work and blessings of pastors and their families. These special people often live under incredible pressures. Simply put, it’s hard work being a member of the clergy.
So often pastors give up their own time to be there for their flock – giving up holidays to visit with sick people at the hospital, counseling couples through the tough times in their marriages, and helping congregants pray through milestone decisions.
Since 2008, 2,774 families have initiated the process of adoption from foster care as a result of the collaborative efforts of our Wait No More program. It’s been amazing for us to see that many of these families are choosing to adopt hard-to-place kids like older children, sibling groups or those with special needs.
Results like this are the reason why the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute has named Wait No More a national best practice in foster care adoption recruitment.
The title of “teacher” is a great one. It conveys passing along wisdom, knowledge and nurturing.
Most of us, looking back, can identify at least one teacher who poured into us. It might have been the elementary school teacher who comforted us, or the high school teacher who encouraged us to believe that God made us capable of achieving our dreams. Whatever it was, their care made a big difference in our lives.
He saw my potential
I remember my “teacher.” He was my high school football coach, Paul Moro.
We’ve all seen a marriage in crisis.
We all know people who have struggled (or are struggling) within their marital relationship.
Maybe that someone is you.
Or perhaps it’s someone you love, like a son or daughter or your best friend from high school.
You can’t stand to see the marriage falling apart. You feel helpless.
When you ask, you’re told that everything that can be thought of has been tried.
Traditional counseling. A visit with the pastor.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
