Daly Focus Blog
I love sports.
Athletics were always a part of my family growing up. My brothers and I built a solid foundation for life through sports. It’s where qualities like responsibility, discipline, and perseverance were expected of us. Those are skills we’ve honed through the years and carried into adulthood.
But…
As much as I believe in encouraging kids to be active in sports, I think it’s a good idea for families to set reasonable boundaries around their schedule and involvement level.
Earlier this week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – the group that oversees about 460,000 student-athletes and more than 1,000 colleges and universities – announced it was relocating “all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina for the 2016-2017 academic year” due to its commitment to “fairness and inclusion” over the state’s bathroom bill.
The moving is sweeping in its scope, though not surprising given our culture’s desire to be viewed by the world as “inclusive” – not “homophobic.”
But the NCAA’s move is intellectually perplexing.
“Politics is nothing but an expression of culture, so if politics is sick, it’s because the culture is sick.”
That astute observation was from the late Chuck Colson from a broadcast we aired a few weeks ago. President James Garfield shared a similar concern in 1876 when he said, “The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it’s because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.”
In a government “of the people, by the people, for the people,” our leadership is ultimately a mirror reflection of the culture that elects them.
Tragedy is like a sucker punch to the face.
The blow comes out of nowhere, and you’re left reeling. Your view of life is blurry for days, weeks, maybe even months.
One of the worst parts of tragedy in the initial moments is the feeling of isolation that can settle in around you. The pain can be so deep, so intense, that you feel strangely detached and all alone, even if you’re surrounded by friends and family.
This Sunday the nation will commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 people and forever changed our history.
For those of us who watched that day unfold, each anniversary quickly brings to mind the horror and fear we witnessed.
Yet, for many of our children who weren’t even born when 9-11 happened, the day is just event in history.
A news story this week examines how teachers go about teaching today’s generation about an event that feels like “ancient history” to them.
I have a heart for orphans. My own story is a vital piece of the puzzle why.
My folks divorced when I was 5. I lost my mom to cancer when I was 9, and my dad died not long after. I was orphaned and spent about a year in the foster-care system.
I know what it’s like to go to bed each night wondering if someone loves you.
That’s a tough place to be.
But that desperate feeling is a familiar one for an estimated 140 million orphans around the world – a number almost too overwhelming to think about.
A few months ago, I asked American Christians to urge the State Department to help Middle East Christians under persecution. I did so because the situation there is dire. As I wrote:
“[ISIS] has made clear its intentions to terrorize, kill and destroy anyone who doesn’t adhere to the tenets of Islamic fundamentalism.
“Christians remain a key target of ISIS. The widespread and vicious persecution of believers in Iraq and Syria, is tragedy of staggering proportions… Christians who refuse to renounce their faith face almost unimaginable consequences—kidnapping, rape, torture, and slavery for those who survive.
Are you at your wit’s end with your boys?
Maybe they’re rambunctious, messy, and loud, and they’re always falling off of their bikes, scrapping with the neighbor kids, or forgetting an instruction you’ve given them a hundred … no, a thousand times.
Solid, helpful parenting ideas can be a big help in these cases, and we have loads of that here at Focus on the Family. But nothing can take the place of one of the most overlooked parts of Christian parenting: prayer.
What do you use to hold your marriage together?
Super Glue?
I may as well suggest duct tape, right? According to the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, God Himself uses Super Glue.
Well, sort of.
Dr. Rogers draws from Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (ESV).
The original Greek translated into “hold fast” (“cleave” in the KJV) means “to weld or to glue.”
Commitment, not love, is the foundation of every successful marriage.
Do you have any Labor Day plans?
If you don’t, you might be in for treat this weekend.
Let me explain why.
Some weeks ago, the Wall St. Journal ran an interesting piece, “The Rewards of a Spontaneous Family Adventure.” I’m a big fan of impromptu events, so I appreciated the premise:
“So much of parenting is about structure and setting limits, and all of this is important. Sometimes, though, it’s good to say, ‘What the heck’ and break out of what we normally do,’ says William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota and author of ‘The Intentional Family.’”
The piece makes the case for throwing caution to the wind every now and then and having a “bit over the top” spur-of-the-moment family event that will give you memories for years to come.
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.
