Daly Focus Blog
You remember Clark Kent. He was a mild-mannered man … until he pulled open his shirt and revealed the superhero outfit underneath that announced his true identity. Then he was Superman, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Dads don’t wear a superhero’s outfit under their clothes, but don’t let that fool you. They have true heroic power. Their mere presence has a dramatic influence in the lives of their children.
Rob Parsons is the founder and chairman of Care for the Family in the United Kingdom, a sister organization to Focus on the Family. In his study are two armchairs, one to the right of the fireplace and one to the left. One night, Rob imagined each of his grandchildren, not as the little ones they were, but as grown men and women in their 20s or 30s. They each sat in one of the armchairs after somebody had broken their heart or stepped all over their dreams.
Jean and I have a strong-willed boy. Over the years, we’ve joked that we were raising a lawyer-in-training. He could find a loophole in anything.
Once, Jean hosted a women’s tea and set out chocolates in the living room. She later discovered half the bowl was gone. When she asked him if he’d eaten all the chocolates, our son responded, “No,” without hesitation.
“You didn’t eat the chocolates?”
“Oh, I ate some of them. But you asked if I had eaten all of them.”
If you’ve got a strong-willed child, you’ve probably encountered situations like that.
Tyler Sexton has been an overcomer since the day he was born. So have his parents, Lisa and Kevin.
When Tyler was born at 28 weeks, doctors immediately placed him in an incubator and said, “We’re rushing him by helicopter to a hospital four hours away. His lungs will likely collapse, and there’s a chance that he could die mid-flight.” Tyler survived, but a long road that included 16 surgeries had just begun.
At 18 months, Tyler was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, we’re introduced to Aslan, a great lion who rules Narnia.
Susan, a little girl who stumbles into the enchanted world through a magic wardrobe, asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan is safe.
“Safe?” Mr. Beaver replies. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”
God, whom Aslan symbolizes, isn’t safe, either. We never know when or how God will show up in our lives.
Hollywood was founded on the power of story, though the real-life ones off the screen between its stars sometimes draw more attention than the fiction we watch on film.
Which is maybe why Sunday’s night’s interaction between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt at the Screen Actors Guild award show has lit up social media into something of a frenzy and elicited speculation the famed couple may soon rekindle their romance.
Married between 2000 and 2005, the pair have been spotted together numerous times of late, primarily at industry shows.
Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?
It’s not if you hope to have a smooth December and enjoy a stress-free Christmas season. That can be tough to do if you’re not organized.
Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy. A time for us to reflect on our Savior who came as a baby in a manger and soon took upon Himself the sins of the world.
Instead, we get caught up in all the “stuff” of Christmas: the lights, the decorations, the shopping.
Darryl and Tracy Strawberry are living proof that with God’s help, any couple can overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable and build a happy marriage. Their life together has been a difficult but rewarding journey.
They met each other in recovery. At the time, neither one was living for the Lord, and they were both broken people.
Darryl was $3 million in debt. He had been a power hitting, eight-time Major League All-Star who earned four World Series championships in 17 seasons with teams like the New York Mets and the New York Yankees.
I was deeply saddened to hear the recent news regarding well-known author and speaker Joshua Harris. First, Harris and his wife, Shannon, announced they have chosen to divorce after 21 years of marriage. Harris made his announcement in an Instagram post.
A few days later, in another post, he declared that he’d undergone “a massive shift” regarding his faith in Jesus and that he no longer considers himself a Christian.
Although Joshua suggests that these decisions were the result of “significant changes” he’d undergone in recent years, he hasn’t specifically described what has led to such dramatic shifts in his philosophy and worldview.
How do we, as believers, live for Christ in a world that constantly puts self first? Leslie Vernick addresses this highly relevant topic in her book, How to Find Selfless Joy in a Me-First World.
Our culture makes me the highest priority. From social media posts and selfies to the aisles of bookstores that are filled with self-help books – our individualistic, American culture calls us to be the best version of ourselves to the exclusion of God and others.
However, this hyper focus on self is one of Satan’s strategies to make us believe that we are the center of our own universe.
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.
