Daly Focus Blog
The Bible is silent on most of Jesus’ childhood. Except for a brief glimpse of Him at age 12, Scripture shows Jesus as a divine baby born under supernatural circumstances … and then as a man aware of His divinity carrying out a miracle-filled ministry on Earth.
But what about those years in between?
There’s a movie that debuts this weekend that explores the period of Jesus’ life where He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
We know which road Robert Frost took in his famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.”
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.
But the choices we face in real life don’t seem nearly so romantic or easy. In fact, important decisions are often the most anxiety- and fear-producing experiences in life.
Fortunately, we have our faith in Christ, right? Well, that ought to give us more confidence, but seeking God’s will can sometimes intensify the pressure even more.
My friend Gary Thomas Smalley died last night. He was surrounded by his family, including his son and my Focus colleague, Greg, who had just returned hours earlier from a speaking engagement about marriage.
How fitting, I thought, that on the very day Gary was to receive his eternal reward, his son was picking up where his father had left off, loving and ministering to Christian couples by helping to enrich their marital relationships.
It’s impossible to sum up 75 years’ worth of living into a few words, but let me tell you just a little bit about the man I knew and loved – and the author and personality so many of you appreciated from afar.
Here’s an important parenting question:
What if your hands were empty, but I asked you to give me one of the apples you were holding?
That’s not a trick question, a riddle, or some odd math problem from your junior high days. It’s a simple question that makes an equally simple point.
We can’t give away something we don’t have.
How does that concept relate to parenting? In this way: We can’t parent our children with God’s grace if we haven’t embraced it ourselves.
Do your children have smartphones?
My boys, ages 15 and 13, don’t. Jean and I have considered getting the boys simple flip phones for emergencies, but yet … we hesitate opening that door.
Beyond the dangers that come with smartphones, we recognize how easy it can be to become addicted to them. Americans now spend an average of 4.7 hours a day on their phones. We sleep with them on our nightstand and carry them in our pockets.
I think stories are one of the best ways to communicate life lessons. Cold, hard logic speaks to our sense of reason, but stories engage us at a heart level. Reason may give us the “why” for something, but the heart gives us our “want to.”
It’s why Jesus often communicated through stories. “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable” (Matthew 13:34).
Were you in one of the 12 states that held primaries or caucuses last night? If so, I’d love to hear your impressions. There is much that I could say about this campaign season, but for now, I think we can all agree that we need to be in deep prayer for our country.
For example, just today the Supreme Court will be hearing the most significant abortion case in nearly 25 years. The new case involves a 2013 Texas law that imposes modest requirements on abortion providers designed to protect the health and welfare of women.
Dave and Linda’s story is all too common, one that’s repeated again and again across thousands of marriages.
It works like this: They have a disagreement and erupt into conflict. They think they’re angry with each other about the specific issue they’re fighting about, but they’re not. There’s something much deeper at work.
It’s like the time Dave came home from work thirty minutes late. Linda was furious and gave him an earful the second he stepped inside the front door.
Happiness is serious business in America.
Our Declaration of Independence says it plainly: We all have the right to pursue happiness. And pursue it we do. We leave no stone unturned in our search for true happiness.
People marry because they’re happy and divorce because they’re not. Advertisers promise happiness to us if we’ll just buy their car, their beer, or their latest technological gadget.
But do we ever stop and ask ourselves – as believers who live in a land of abundance and opportunity, and who have virtually every material blessing right at our fingertips – why are so many of us miserable?
To go into debt, or not to go into debt?
That is the question – one many college students ask themselves as they think of how to afford a college education.
You hear horror stories about twenty-something college graduates leaving school with a four-year degree in one hand and a load of debt in the other they may spend the next couple of decades trying to repay.
Is it worth it?
And if it is, what’s the best way to keep the debt at a reasonable level relative to future earning potential?
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.
