Jim Daly

Cops Surprise Accused Criminal… with Grace

When was the last time God prompted you to go out of your way to help someone?

That’s what happened to Ryan Willard and Duane Fields, two West Virginia law enforcement officers whose response to a typical shoplifting call will inspire you.

According to a report from The Charleston Daily Mail, Willard and Fields arrived at a local K-Mart to look into allegations a young woman had tried to steal from the store.

What they found in the small backroom went beyond the cold, hard facts of the case, however.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news

Tweets Between the Sheets

Smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Increasingly they’re our constant source of news and entertainment. Sometimes it seems like these devices are surgically attached to our hands – but this reliance on smart technology is also demanding us to make decisions about what we prioritize and how we will steward our time.

Today I want to share with you a post written by one of our young staffers. In it, Chelsey, a newlywed, explores how she waded through the choices her iPhone forced her to make:

The phone alarm wakes my husband.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, marriage, relationships, wife

VIDEO: Do You Know This is More Dangerous than Drinking and Driving?

It used to be that when it came to having a 16-or 17-year-old, a parent’s top concern when their teen got behind the wheel was drinking and driving. Well, there’s something that’s replaced drunk driving as the number one cause of teenage deaths on the road in the U.S. – texting while driving. Accidents caused by this dangerous practice injure more than 300,000 teens and kill more than 3,000 each year, according to a study by the Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: news, technology

Dad Matters Flies the Frantic Skies

Focus on the Family’s blog for fathers, Dad Matters, has a great mix of content written by some of the dads on our staff. Some of the posts, like the one on staying involved during the school year, are full of practical insight. Others, like the post on presuming the best, offer life wisdom with real-life examples.

Then there’s Patrick, who specializes in writing humorous pieces inspired by his daily adventures in fatherhood. His latest post, “Flying the Frantic Skies,” is sure to make you laugh:

Notice anything about those airline ads on TV?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: humor

How God Used a Young Man with Special Needs to Communicate on His Behalf

A few weeks ago I shared a moving video about a young couple and their newborn child that inspired many of you to tell me your own stories of love, loss and the dignity of every human life. Today I want to tell you how that video came to be – and to introduce you to the two very special men, a real-life father and son, who starred in the short feature “A Letter from Dad.”

Jim Mhoon serves as the vice president of content development here at Focus.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting

What the Pope Said About Homosexuality

Pope Francis’ comments on homosexuality late last month made headlines around the world. During an impromptu 80-minute press conference with journalists, the Pope answered questions on a variety of issues, but the media has latched on to this one quote:

If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person?

The pope was summarizing his thoughts about celibate clergy who have unwanted same-sex attractions. That’s the quote that caused the media floodgates to open, with many news reports breathlessly hinting that the Catholic Church was changing its positions on the topic.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, news

Is This Why A-Rod Took Enhancing Drugs?

The suspension of thirteen Major League Baseball stars today is a sordid and layered story, to be sure. That the investigation has played out over the course of several years is just one indication of the many protagonists and antagonists (and a whole lot of money) in the mix. Simply put, it’s a mess.

But have you ever stopped to wonder why some athletes choose to cheat and others do not?

Sadly, dishonesty in professional sports is not a new phenomenon, especially in baseball.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, pop culture

VIDEO: The Story of the Million Dollar Birth

Would you miss the birth of your child for the largest paycheck of your life?

American pro-golfer Hunter Mahan, 31, was leading the Canadian Open, a tournament with a prize of $1 million – and then he got a call. It turns out his pregnant wife, who wasn’t due to deliver their first baby for another three weeks, had suddenly gone into labor.

What did he do?

What would you do?

Immediately after receiving the call, Mahan packed his bags and withdrew from the tournament.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: marriage, parenting

How Can Parents Help Their Children After Divorce?

Earlier this week we aired a broadcast dealing with a difficult and sensitive issue: how can a man and woman who are divorced co-parent their children successfully?

It can be a challenging issue to navigate. We know God’s heart is for marriage and divorce is outside His intent. That’s why we encourage couples in crisis to do everything they can to work out differences through prayer, counseling and community support.

However, the reality remains that sometimes, divorce happens.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: divorce, kids, parenting

How Should Parents Define Happiness?

Scientists love to study how happy parents are (or aren’t). Year after year, news outlets report on the topic, touting studies that they say either find how unhappy parents are, or how much satisfaction and “positive emotion” children bring to their parents’ lives.

Here are some samples of the findings on this topic – as you’ll see, there’s a wide array of results.

A 2007 Pew report found children are still vital to adult happiness.
Fox News describe how “parents report significantly higher levels of depression than non-parents”
Research in the journal Psychological Science found that overall, “parents (and especially fathers) report relatively higher levels of happiness, positive emotion, and meaning in life than do non-parents.”
The Wall Street Journal reports “every additional child makes parents 1.3 percentage points less likely to be ‘very happy’”

Andrew Hess is one of our staff researchers, and he recently attempted to make sense of these findings.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, marriage, parenting