Jim Daly

Turn Toward Your Spouse

Ten minutes. That’s all it takes to turn your marriage around.

Sound too easy? Widely respected marriage therapist Dr. John Gottman has published research that shows unhappy couples can dramatically change their relationship if they’ll devote at least ten minutes throughout the day to one another.

It’s what happens in those ten minutes that the magic happens. It’s where couples “turn toward” one another. That means couples shift their focus away from work, kids, and other distractions of the day and turn their attention toward their spouse.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage

Absolute Zero

People who aren’t religious typically share a common belief: They only trust in tangible things that can be physically detected. That sounds reasonable until you realize how much of reality exists outside our ability to perceive it.

Let me give you an example. Scientists talk about a thing called Absolute Zero. That’s the temperature at which all heat in a system is completely gone – so cold that even atoms become fully motionless. Absolute Zero is a whopping 460 degrees below zero.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family

Trusting God with Your Adult Child

My friend Rob Parsons tells the story of a couple whose daughter disappeared from home in a fit of rebellion on her 18th birthday. Her parents were devastated. For years, they didn’t know if she was alive or dead.

Early on, her mother made a simple decision. Every night she would turn on the porch light and leave it on all night. It was an unspoken message to her daughter: “You’re always welcome home.”

Many nights, tears streamed down the mother’s face as she locked the front door, switched on the light, and prayed for her daughter.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family

Loving Your Wife with Your Words

One of the keys to a great marriage is thoughtful, intentional communication. The words you use, the way you speak, your body language and how you listen and respond will either build up your relationship or tear it down.

While strong communication is important for both spouses, husbands often need extra help developing this skill. Author Ryan Frederick is joining me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to help husbands love their wives well through good communication habits.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage

A Hard Day’s Night

Both of my boys had colic as infants. On a good night, they might only sleep for a couple of hours at a time. Jean and I tried everything to get them to rest, including placing them on top of our clothes dryer, hoping the movement would calm them. Other nights, I would drive Trent – and two years later, Troy – around the neighborhood at two o’clock in the morning. But every time, as soon as I brought them home and lay them down – boom!

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting

Understanding the Root of Your Child’s Misbehavior

Why do kids behave poorly?

According to Dr. Kevin Leman, there are four goals of misbehavior:

Attention. “I only count when others notice me and serve me.”

Power. “I only count when others do what I want them to do when I want them to do it.”

Revenge. “I only count when I hurt others like I’ve been hurt.”

Display of inadequacy. “I’m no good. I’m worth nothing. I can’t do anything right, so why try at all?”

Once you understand why your child misbehaves, the next important question is: what do you do about it?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: parenting

For Those in the Background

Here’s a trivia question for you: Which team has the worst win-loss record in all of sports?

The answer is a basketball team called the Washington Generals. They’ve been losing nonstop to the Harlem Globetrotters since 1926 – a mind-bending 16,000 times. Obviously, the Washington Generals are a spoof, but they illustrate the importance of people who make an organization successful even though they never get the spotlight – which is most of us.

The Generals are supposed to lose.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family

Honoring the Fallen

One million.

That’s a big number. But on today of all days, that number takes on even greater value and significance.

That’s because today is Memorial Day, the day we remember over one million Americans who have died in war on behalf of us all.

That figure is astounding by itself. But it’s even more sobering when you reflect on this: every one of those one million has a name, and behind every name is a family whose entire world changed forever because that soldier didn’t come home alive.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Gaining a New Perspective in Life

Author and speaker Canon J. John tells this story:

A factory employee headed home at the end of a long day, pushing a wheelbarrow. Inside the wheelbarrow was a small box.

At the security gate, the guard stopped him and asked, “What’s in the box?”

The worker replied, “The sawdust from the floor. At the end of the day, it’s swept up and thrown away. I need some, so I put it in a box to take home.”

The guard looked inside the box and, sure enough, it was filled with sawdust.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

True of Every Person

What is human life worth?

Does every person deserve to be treated with dignity?

What about the elderly, the unborn, or the disabled?

One of the most important ideals America has pursued for 250 years is the belief that all people are equally valuable. Yet, throughout that time our nation has struggled to agree on exactly how to define human equality. After all, we don’t all have equal ability, talent, or intelligence. We’re not all equally healthy or ambitious.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Turn Toward Your Spouse

Absolute Zero

Trusting God with Your Adult Child

Loving Your Wife with Your Words

A Hard Day’s Night

Understanding the Root of Your Child’s Misbehavior

For Those in the Background

Honoring the Fallen

Gaining a New Perspective in Life

True of Every Person

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