Daly Focus Blog
Has reality set in on your dreams yet?
It will, you know.
Not on all of them, of course. But enough.
Maybe you never got the career you wanted. Or the marriage you dreamed of. Or the baby you hoped for.
The question is, how do you come to terms with your unfulfilled dreams?
Author Chrystal Evans Hurst understands what you’re going through. She’s also walked the road of discontentment before.
In college, she didn’t handle her freedom well and became a teenage mom.
Teaching character to children and motivating them to embrace change can be a challenge. So where do you begin?
Dr. Kathy Koch says you do it by strengthening your relationship with your child. You can help your child feel known and understood and intentionally impart character qualities like resilience, humility, self-respect, respect for others, and self-control.
It comes through relationship. You first model those qualities, then you guide your children as they learn to interact with life the same way.
Did you read the story the other day about the smallest baby in the world?
He was just 9.45 ounces (.59 pounds) when he was born at 24 weeks gestation. Doctors didn’t expect him to survive. After nearly 6 months in the hospital, he went home last week weighing 7.2 pounds.
The little boy’s physician, Dr. Takeshi Arimitus, told reporters, “I want people to know that babies can return home vigorous even if they are born small.”
Or are you up to speed on the latest from out here in Colorado, where the state has finally dropped its second case of alleged discrimination against Christian baker Jack Phillips?
I’ll bet you remember the moment your life changed.
It may have been in childhood or even as an adult. But someone said something to you that was hurtful and that moment changed your entire perception of yourself from that point forward.
For me, it was ninth grade. I was in my high school’s weight room, getting ready for football season. Coach Logan walked through the weight room, looked at me, and said, “Man, you’ve got bird legs.
Imagine growing up in a loving, Christian family, giving your life to ministry as a 3rdgeneration pastor, and being married to the love of your life.
But you have a secret.
Nick Stumbo was that man. He learned at a young age that anything sexual should be secretive. Sex was exclusively for marriage, and anything outside of that was wrong – even talking about it.
So when things of a sexual nature started entering into Nick’s life – like exposure to pornography at a friend’s house, the school bus, or sporting trips – his reaction was, “I can’t share about this with anyone.
Yesterday’s vote in the United States Senate on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act marked a new and horrific low in American politics.
The measure, which would have guaranteed medical care for children born alive after an attempted abortion, needed 60 votes for passage.
It received 53.
Shockingly, 44 Democrats opposed the legislation.
Think about that.
Nearly half of the United States Senate voted to allow the killing of infant children.
Politics is intrinsically contentious. Bitter partisan battles have become the norm.
What’s your definition of a hero?
Do they wear capes? Do they have superhuman strength? The ability to leap tall buildings?
When I think of heroes, I think of my football coach in high school, Paul Moro. He shaped a lot of teenage boys’ character and helped them learn to play football along the way.
I also think of Mrs. Bandy, my elementary school nurse. I was living in a dysfunctional foster home and would sit on the hill behind my school at recess and cry.
How would you answer these three questions?
When does human life begin?
What makes human life valuable?
What is our Christian duty to the preborn?
Some of you hesitated to answer.
That may explain why so many Christians are quietly pro-life. They believe abortion ends a human life, but they really don’t know how to defend the position to others, so they generally keep quiet about it.
If that’s you, you’re certainly not alone. I’m surprised by the number of Christians who have never had the opportunity to learn a solid Christian response to abortion and other pro-life issues like physician-assisted suicide.
Karen Kain is one of the most respected ballet dancers in the world. She gave over 10,000 performances in her career. Somebody once asked her if age was the dancer’s worst enemy. Karen answered, “Sometimes. But sometimes the dancer’s worst enemy is themselves. They get in their own way.”
Karen’s response gets to the heart of dance. It’s the art of movement. It’s all about placing your feet, your hands, and your arms in the right spots at the right times and moving in concert with the music and your partner.
Being pro-life means much more than being against abortion. Our value statement on the sanctity of human life reads:
We believe that human beings are created by God in His image. Therefore every person, from conception to natural death, possesses inherent dignity and immeasurable worth – including preborn children, elderly individuals, those with special needs and others marginalized by society. Christians, then, are called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
Author and speaker Emily Colson has lived the truth of that statement up close and personal.
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.
