Daly Focus Blog
Freedom comes at a high cost.
Today we want to pause and reflect with gratitude on all the brave servicemen and women who have died defending freedom. We honor those who have fallen and offer a humble and heartfelt “thank you” to every family who has lost a husband or a wife, a mom or a dad, a son or a daughter, or even a friend or a neighbor.
Thank you for your loved one’s sacrifice … and for yours.
Week ending May 22, 2018
Swipe Right ( by Levi Lusko)
Through the Eyes of a Lion (by Levi Lusko)
Our Newlywed Kitchen (by Laura Schupp)
The Perfect Dad (by Rob Stennett)
Grace Based Discipline (by Karis Kimmel Murray)
Raising Kingdom Kids (by Tony Evans)
The Antelope in the Living Room (by Melanie Shankle)
A Lifelong Love (by Gary Thomas)
Kingdom Marriage (by Tony Evans)
The Marriage Builder (by Larry Crabb)
Love and Respect in the Family (by Emerson Eggerichs)
The Focus on the Family Guide to Talking with Your Kids about Sex (by J.
Gary Morland believes families are like a river – good and bad choices alike flow downstream across generations. Gary’s family of origin was an unhappy one. There was a lot of arguing and disharmony. His dad was an alcoholic. So was his grandfather, who left the family as a result of his addiction. Gary learned to accept dysfunction as normal and unchangeable. The influence of his past sent him on a 15-year journey down what he calls the “Rocky Rapids of Addiction.”
When Gary turned 21, his dad took him drinking, and for the next 15 years, three quarts of beer a day became his habit.
By: Danny Huerta
Friday’s release of the second season of 13 Reasons Why, the popular teen television drama, is bound to generate enormous interest – and controversy.
According to a Northwestern University study, the show’s highly-rated first season on Netflix significantly increased conversations among teens on difficult topics, but not necessarily in positive or healthy ways.
The same study also revealed that almost 80% of teens and young adults who watched the show felt it helped them understand the ripple effect of their behaviors, but it didn’t necessarily inspire them to reach out and repair relationships with those they hurt.
When Jean and I entered premarital counseling, we were goo-goo-eyed and knew that we were meant for each other. We enjoyed most of the same things and were alike in almost every way.
When we finished our last session a week later, that had all changed. We were both thinking, “Wow, we are nothing alike,” and we were wondering, “Are we going to be okay?”
At some point, every couple begins to recognize their differences. And something strange happens when they do: The whole idea of “two becoming one” gets turned into, “My spouse should become more like me.”
How do couples manage their differences effectively?
Do dads have to be perfect?
The answer to that question seems obvious: No.
But what if the answer is yes?
Nobody’s perfect, of course. We all fall short in word, thought, and deed every day. That’s why we need God’s grace.
But hold on. Even if the goal isn’t literal perfection, can’t every dad improve somewhere? This isn’t condemnation, this is a call for men to rise up and thrive as fathers. After all, being a dad is one of the most important jobs a man will ever have.
We applaud today’s action by the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in keeping this Administration’s pledge to American taxpayers that no funds would go directly, or indirectly, to support abortion.
HHS’s announcement that it will be bringing back a Reagan-era regulation dealing with family planning funds and abortion responds to the cry of millions of Americans who want their government to support life, not death. Six in ten Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion.
Some of the best influence on my boys’ future marriages takes place in our kitchen. That’s where Jean, I, and our sons gather to prepare the evening meal and catch up on our day.
Okay, Jean does most of the cooking, but the rest of us help out where we can. Most importantly, we’re all together. We talk about life. We talk about goals. We talk about success and failure. We laugh a lot. We’re doing more than fixing and eating dinner – we’re immersing our boys in relationship.
One of the most powerful forces God created for humanity exists in the realm of love, sex, and romance. The potential for both pleasure and blessing is virtually immeasurable. So is the potential for destruction.
As a group, Millennials and younger generations don’t tend to believe that. A significant percentage see sex as a purely physical experience. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. From an evolutionary standpoint, there isn’t anything sacred about sex. If there is no God, then sex is strictly biological.
When’s the last time you read a news story with a happy ending?
After all, as a general rule of thumb, it’s the noise that makes news.
It’s human nature.
Maybe it’s because bad news makes us feel better about ourselves. Our lives could be worse – just look at that sad and sordid story.
But then there’s Heard County High School in Franklin, Georgia, population 993.
In a nod to tradition, seniors in the high school there regularly try and pull off a prank this time of year.
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.
