Jim Daly

This Bullied Girl’s Response Will Astonish You

Desiree Andrews is a cheerleader for the Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She’s a sweet, happy, friendly eighth-grader, who also happens to have Down Syndrome.

The young woman has also become something of an international celebrity during the last few weeks.

Why?

According to reports, basketball players on the Lincoln team stopped play in order to defend Desiree against some bullies who were mocking her moves from the stands.

“We were mad. We didn’t like that,” said player Miles Rodriguez.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: friendship, kids, news, parenting

What You Might Not Know About Pastor Saeed Abedeni

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the news, you’ve probably heard about Saeed Abedeni. He’s an Iranian-American pastor, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity.

In 2012, Saeed went to Iran, a trip he’d made nearly a dozen times before. He was there to visit family and work on a government-approved orphanage for Muslim children. Instead, he was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and charged with “threatening Iran’s national security.”

In government-speak, that means they considered his Christian faith dangerous.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news, religious liberty

Watch Amazing Video of 31-Week-Old Baby Smiling in the Womb

Note: Did you miss out on watching “The Drop Box” last week? Well, tonight more than 400 theaters across the nation are showing a one-time encore presentation of this award-winning documentary film. Check out locations and purchase your tickets online at www.thedropboxfilm.com!

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If you’re a parent of a biological child, you’ll never forget the first moment you saw your little one on an ultrasound image.

It’s the ultimate look within. Today’s expectant parents can see what tens of billions of couples throughout history never did – 3-D images of their preborn baby moving around inside the womb.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting, pro-life, technology

In Dying, Kara Tippetts Shows Us God is Present in Pain

What does dying with dignity look like?

At 38, Kara Tippetts is answering that question as she faces her final days on earth.

In recent posts on her popular blog, “Mundane Faithfulness,” Kara shares how she now uses a wheelchair (which she named Norman), sleeps on a hospital bed at home, and is in hospice care.

These are harsh realities for a wife and mother of four young children to face. Yet she does it with God’s grace – a grace that has allowed her to give to others through her blog and book, even while she battles cancer.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, faith, news

A Second Chance to Watch “The Drop Box” on March 16!

Were you one of the many people who weren’t able to see “The Drop Box” movie last week because of bad weather? Were you shut out of a sold-out theater?

If so, I have good news: Focus on the Family is showing an encore presentation of “The Drop Box” on Monday, March 16! You can purchase your tickets today.

Last week, nearly a quarter million people watched “The Drop Box” across the U.S. and Canada.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: adoption, entertainment, faith, pro-life, promos

2 Ways Stepmoms Can Help Bond with Their Stepchildren

If you’re a new stepmom, you may be entering into one of the toughest jobs a woman can have. It’s not easy to bring together the remnants of two families and make them one.

Forging genuine relationships between new siblings and step-parents takes time … and lots of it.

Even under the most ideal circumstances.

There’s no way to know how long children may grieve the loss of their original family and everything that went with it.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: family, parenting

A Stunning Violation in San Francisco

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

– The Wall St. Journal’s “A Fight to Keep Catholic Schools Catholic” explains how California lawmakers are trying to prevent San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from hiring faculty that would advance Catholic teaching in area high schools.

Just imagine: Catholic schools teaching Catholic doctrine? The effort to coerce school officials into violating their convictions is a stunning assault on a religious school’s constitutional freedom.

– Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Membership After She Complained About Transgender Person.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, religious liberty, technology

Is It Ever Too Late to Save a Marriage?

Naturally, with a name like “Focus on the Family,” our organization places a strong emphasis on building thriving marriages. An “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as they say. The best course of action is always to take steps to head off problems before they start.

But for many couples, helpful suggestions and well-meaning nudges to “be proactive” are already too late. The relationship has dried up. One or both spouses feel like the love is gone.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, marriage, promos

Technology Rewires Your Child’s Brain. Here’s How to Help Avoid That

Technology is a way of life for kids. They use it for everything from simple communication with family and friends to entertainment to school-related tasks.

And the numbers prove it. In the course of just one minute, YouTube users upload 48 hours of new video content. Facebook users share over 680,000 pieces of content. More than 2 million Google searches occur. And over 200 million email messages are sent. And did you know teenagers send on average over 3,000 texts every month?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, kids, parenting, technology

Audiences Love #TheDropBox and Raise Thousands for Pastor Lee’s Ministry

“The Drop Box” started its three-day limited run last night showing to capacity crowds and exceeding all expectations. We are humbled by this response and overwhelmed by God’s graciousness.

All in all, the film debuted in 727 theaters across all 50 states. More than 100,000 tickets have already been sold. The response was so great many people were shut out of the film last night, so I encourage you to reserve your spot for tonight and tomorrow before more showings sell out!

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: adoption, entertainment, news, pastors, pro-life