Daly Focus Blog
When I hear good people say good things, I like to pass them along. So I want to share three items from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ commencement speech to the graduates of Hillsdale College.
1. Benefits don’t exist without responsibility.
The small farm of his youth taught Justice Thomas that you reap what you sow. There are no crops if you don’t take care of the land. “If we didn’t work, we didn’t eat.
Last week’s controversial directive by the Obama Administration to the nation’s public schools and colleges has understandably shocked many parents and students.
In fact, according to a new Rasmussen poll earlier this week, 55 percent of parents with elementary and secondary school age children oppose it while 32 percent support it; 16 percent are undecided.
As I said in my media statement Friday, the move to open up restrooms and showers to gender-confused students undermines parental rights and politicizes our kids’ education.
We’re pleased today to learn that the Little Sisters of the Poor will not be forced by the government to compromise their religious beliefs after all.
Allow me to explain.
Rather than issue a final verdict, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the lower courts to allow the over two dozen religious organizations and individuals involved in the Zubik v. Burwell case (in which Little Sisters is one of the religious parties) to work with the federal government to reach a compromise that takes care of the concerns of all parties.
I’ve met a lot of couples who believe the formula for marital happiness is rooted in things like chemistry, fate, or a one-in-a-million shot that you’ll discover your soul mate.
Here’s one that’s mostly overlooked: choice.
That’s right. In the same way that personal happiness is a choice, so, too, is happiness in marriage. It may not always be an easy choice or an obvious choice, but it is something we can choose regardless of whatever obstacles may be working against us.
Here’s what we sent to the media regarding today’s news. I hope to address this topic – and the issues surrounding it – in greater depth next week. –JD
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Focus on the Family President: Obama Administration’s Letter to Public Schools Undermines Parental Rights, Politicizes Education of 50 Million Schoolchildren
““There should be a balanced approach – one that does not ignore privacy concerns”
Colorado Springs, Colo. – Focus on the Family President Jim Daly issued a statement reacting to the Obama Administration’s letter to public schools on bathroom use today.
Their friendship started in an unlikely way – with a lie and an arrest.
Jameel McGee was walking down a Benton Harbor, Michigan street when police officer Andrew Collins falsely accused him of dealing drugs and arrested McGee. The arrest – and the phony report Collins filed – led to McGee spending four years in prison. During his sentence, McGee lost everything.
While in prison, all McGee could think of was of getting back at the man whose actions had stolen so much from him.
Men, we’re at war.
I don’t think most guys think of their role as a husband or father in those terms very often. That could be why so many guys succumb to the dangers of pornography and adulterous affairs. The enemy of our soul is ruthlessly plotting the destruction of us and our families … and a lot of us seem oblivious to it.
That’s why author and speaker Dr. Steve Farrar compares a man’s role in his home to point men in military conflict.
When I was 9 years old, I was put in foster care. In many ways, it was only another obstacle in a life full of hard knocks.
My parents divorced when I was 5, after Dad threatened to kill Mom with a hammer. My mom soon remarried a harsh man named Hank who loved Mom, but didn’t like us kids. Hank abandoned us after Mom died of cancer. His departure was what landed me in foster care.
Sometimes I can’t help but smile when people tell me they’re just not sure how the Lord wants them to serve. “Lord, what do you want me to do with my life?” they’ll repeatedly pray.
I grin because, regardless of whatever unique and specific calling God may place on each of us, He’s already communicated many things that He expects from all of us. One is found in Scripture nearly 50 times: to care for the widow and the orphan (for example, James 1:27).
Author Arlene Pellicane describes the average mom’s frenzied day like this: “We wake up, and we’re Mary Poppins. ‘Let’s do this thing!’ we say. But by the time we go to bed, we’re Cruella de Vil.”
A lot of moms might describe themselves with words like “busy,” “stressed,” or “tired.”
One word you don’t often hear from moms is “happy.” Maybe that’s because, by and large, mothers have settled into the notion that busyness, work, and falling into bed exhausted are “just the way it is.”
Arlene’s discovery of what a happy mom is began with a personal encounter that illustrated to her what a happy mom isn’t.
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.
