Daly Focus Blog
Are you raising a child or raising an adult?
That’s not a trick question. In fact, for many of us, it gets to an idea that may reflect a complete paradigm shift in how we view parenting.
Our job isn’t simply to teach our kids to obey a set of household rules (although learning to follow instructions is important, too). It’s to empower them to use their judgment to make good decisions in life.
How do we do that?
Do you or will you allow your children to walk to school or to the park alone?
If you said “yes” and happen to live in the state of Maryland, you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.
Danielle and Alexander Meitiv of Silver Spring, Maryland, learned that the hard away.
Mr. and Mrs. Meitiv practice “free-range parenting,” a philosophy where moms and dads give their children a great degree of independence. So when they allowed their two children, Rafi and Dvora, ages 10 and 6, to walk home alone from the park, the police got involved.
Marriages everywhere are at risk because of one of the most powerful drugs known to man: infatuation.
Maybe you don’t think of infatuation as a drug. But pastor and marriage expert Dave Carder, who has spent the past 30 years studying the causes of infidelity, says infatuation is as powerful as any substance out there.
Do you think that’s overstated?
Consider this: if you’ve ever known someone who walked away from their family for an affair, you probably asked yourself, “What were they thinking?” And that’s the point.
It was ten years ago, on March 31, 2005, when Terri Schiavo drew her last breath. The nation followed her final days, which were marked by an army of people doing everything possible to preserve her life.
You likely remember the uproar.
Terri was not dying or terminally ill. She was not brain-dead or in a coma. She was a mentally disabled woman able to breathe on her own; her only dependency was on a feeding tube into her stomach for liquids and nourishment.
A news summary on issues that matter.
South Carolina Tragedy
The death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, earlier this week at the hands of a white North Charleston police officer has understandably reignited a national conversation on racial injustice and the conduct of law enforcement officials.
Caught on camera, Mr. Scott is seen running away from the officer, only to be shot numerous times in the back. Details of the case are still emerging, and so I don’t pretend to know all the facts.
How to spiritually connect with your spouse may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in marriage.
Couples tend to think in terms of spiritual activities they ought to do together.
For example:
We know we should read our Bibles, pray and go to church together and memorize Scripture.
Without question, there are important spiritual disciplines, and they fit the personality of some couples especially well. These are men and women who are so structured they treat devotions almost like mini-church.
We’ve all heard about sore losers.
But sore winners?
Kirsten Powers, who writes for USA Today and regularly appears as a guest commentator on FOX News, penned a provocative column yesterday lamenting the fallout from Indiana’s contentious religious freedom debate.
Kirsten and I don’t see eye to eye on everything, including the definition of marriage, but I’m grateful for the candor and honesty with which she writes. In fact, she’s often a breath of fresh air.
Today’s culture will often take issue with traditional Christian perspectives.
That’s what makes what will happen on April 16 all the more encouraging.
On that day, an estimated 18,000 students will share a Christian perspective on sexuality at their high schools and colleges thanks to Day of Dialogue, a student-led free speech event.
Think about the courage it takes for teenagers to commit to sharing a hope-filled, Bible-based perspective on sensitive social issues like marriage, sexuality and gender-identity issues.
I’m sure you could tell me which of your children are introverts or extroverts, or which are morning people or night owls. Those traits reflect their personality.
It’s how they perceive the world around them and interact with it.
Well, in the same way, financial experts Scott and Bethany Palmer say children have a money personality. It’s essentially the same idea. Their money personality affects how they see money, interact with it, and deal with others who see money differently.
As our thoughts turn to the core realities of our faith this weekend, we have great cause to rejoice that we live in a country whose foundational principles let us stand firm in our beliefs.
But we also have reason to grieve, because laws that buttress that foundation have come under criticism. As Christians, we have a duty to tell the truth—and call on others to tell the truth—about religious liberty policy that has served our nation well for decades, policy that is one of our greatest resources to live together peaceably despite our deepest differences.
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.
