Jim Daly

Michelle Ablard never thought she’d have children of her own. She was a content, single, fifth grade schoolteacher with dogs and a mortgage. But then God orchestrated unexpected opportunities in Michelle’s life.

Like the day Michelle inexplicably felt God nudging her to quit her job. The idea made no sense. She was well paid, highly credentialed, and had a secure job in a field where others were struggling. She was invested in her school and community, yet Michelle couldn’t shake the feeling that God wanted her to quit.

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Children may be small, but they experience big emotions. Your challenge as a parent isn’t to keep your kids from feeling afraid, frustrated, or overwhelmed. It’s to teach them how to handle those feelings when they come.

The good news is that regulating emotions is a skill your children can and should learn, and you can teach them. Helping children manage their emotions isn’t about stopping their feelings. It’s about giving them lifelong habits, biblical truth, and practical tools to find peace in the middle of them.

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For more than 45 years, elementary students across America have had a legal right to attend elective offsite Bible classes during their public-school day. “Released time” laws allow students to attend religious training opportunities of their choice.

Bible2School (B2S) is one such program. Located in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Idaho, and Texas, B2S isn’t extracurricular; it takes place during the public-school day and, according to  the Supreme Court, is a protected Constitutional right in all 50 states.

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One of the hardest things we can do is manage work and family well. Both demand a significant portion of our time and commitment. Woven through all of that is money.

How can you manage your family’s money in a way that truly matters?

Many couples feel insecure and anxious about their finances. Most think the reason they struggle with money is that they don’t have enough. But more usually isn’t the answer.

Obviously, if you’re looking through sofa cushions for loose change to pay overdue bills, more money would be helpful.  But true financial freedom is much more a function of your attitude about money than how much or how little money you have.

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“Deconstruction” has been a part of the public lexicon for years. For many, it’s a season of honest questioning that leads to a deeper, more personal faith. Others detach themselves from church or abandon their belief in God altogether.

If your adult children are questioning their Christian faith or have already walked away entirely, you may feel upset and are asking yourself, “What do I do?”

On Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, I’m talking with author Jim Burns about how to trust God in the midst of your confusion and to respond to children who say, “I don’t believe anymore” with wisdom and humility.

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Every one of us is wired for connection. From our earliest relationships with our parents and siblings, we learn that we need emotional nourishment as much as we need food and water.

It’s also in our formative years that we learn how we connect with others. Patterns begin to emerge that determine how we offer and receive love. Understanding those “love styles” is important because we carry them into our relationship with our spouse.

God’s desire is for us to develop a secure style of attachment; that is, to learn to offer and receive love that is present, unconditional, and sacrificial.

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At the 2008 Summer Olympics, both the U.S. men’s and women’s 4 x 100 relay teams were expected to compete for the gold medal – but shockingly, neither team even made it to the finals.

Neither American team exited the competition early because other countries were faster but because they dropped the baton during an exchange. Runners almost never drop the baton during the middle of their relay leg. They drop it in the hand-off.

The exchange is where things often go wrong for parents as well.

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One of the hardest parts of parenting during the teen years is understanding how to have conversations that really matter about tough issues like broken trust, difficult friendships, or dating. We want to help our kids become who God created them to be, but tough conversations can quickly turn emotional or tense and leave us wondering if we helped the situation or made it worse.

You may find it helpful to reframe those moments. Think of your child as a dump truck filled with diamonds.

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