Jim Daly

If You Want Happy Kids, Do This

Forget the luxury vacation or the latest electronic gadget. If you want your child to be happy simply spend time with them, so confirms the Global Kids Happiness Index.

Over 4,000 children between the ages of 6-12 years old in 12 countries were surveyed. Here is what they revealed:

According to TMSW’s research, the most important sources of kids’ happiness, across almost all countries, are family and friends. “Play” consistently ranked third among sources of happiness.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family

VIDEO: A Christmas Sneak Peek at History Channel’s The Bible

I have a treat for you.

We’ve just received the first publicly released scenes from the upcoming History Channel series, The Bible. The ten-hour program will air on the four Sundays prior to Easter, beginning March 3, 2013, and will culminate on Easter Sunday with a special grand finale.

As we move quickly toward the celebration of Christmas in two weeks, I invite you to imagine what it would have been like to witness firsthand the wonder of that night that changed the course of the world:

I love the passion and enthusiasm that my friends Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have invested in this new series.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: church, pop culture

The Supreme Court and Marriage

The Supreme Court’s decision today to determine whether the Constitution allows state and federal government to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman is a welcome development.

When the executive branch of the government is no longer willing to defend its own law, the final arbiter must be the highest court in the land. The case will likely be heard in March or April with a decision due at the end of June.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: homosexuality, policy, pop culture

How God Uses Our Tears

T. Dewitt Talmage (pictured below) was a well-known Brooklyn, New York preacher in the late 1800’s. He died in 1902. He once preached a message titled, “The Ministry of Tears.” It speaks powerfully to the reality of grief, but is also laced with an enormous spirit of hope.

He is basically trying to answer this great question: “What’s the use of our tears?”

Here are a few choice lines:

Why, when a family is put together, not have them all stay, or if they must be transplanted to make other homes, then have them all live?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Ten Resolutions for Mental Health

Pastor and author John Piper recently shared notes he took during a 1976 lecture by Clyde Kilby (pictured, left), one of his professors in English literature at Wheaton College. His plea that night, according to Piper, “was that we stop being unamazed by the strange glory of ordinary things.”

Concluding his talk that October evening, Dr. Kilby offered ten suggested resolutions. With thanks to John Piper and the late Clyde Kilby, I am delighted to post them below:

At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family

Are We Obsessed with Our Pets?

Is it possible to love your dog or cat too much?

A colleague called to my attention a provocative article in World Magazine regarding Americans’ devotion to their pets. The author of the piece told of a veterinarian who likes to ask people if, given the choice between saving the life of a stranger in a burning building or their beloved pet, which one would they save?

“You’d be surprised,” he said, “how many would save their pet.”

Dogs and cats are increasingly becoming more and more part of the family.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, pop culture

Fiscal Cliff? How About the Moral Cliff?

There is endless talk these days about the looming “fiscal cliff,” the catastrophic economic nightmare that many predict will befall the United States if taxes go up and government spending is significantly cut come January 2, 2013, as mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

To be sure, the stakes are high.

But all this conversation about an economic cliff has got me thinking: Is there a moral cliff? And have we already reached it – or are we walking dangerously close to the edge?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: finances

Four Reasons Women Cheat

There’s an essay that caught my attention on Foxnews.com this morning. It’s written by a woman named Marina Pearson. According to her byline she’s a writer and speaker whose career is dedicated to helping women “who are struggling to get over their ex to move on in a safe and nurturing environment.”

Her article is bluntly titled: “Why I Cheated on My Husband.”

That would be “ex-husband,” now. But what were the reasons? According to Ms.

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

Family Never Left Side of Coma Victim for 42 Years

From NBC News…a story of true love:

A woman who lived in a coma for 42 years, meticulously cared for by her family, died Wednesday in her home in Miami Gardens, Fla., the Miami Herald reported.

Edwarda O’Bara was a 16-year-old high school student in 1970 when she became sick from her diabetes medication and slipped into a diabetic coma.

According to the Herald, just before she lost consciousness, Edwarda asked her mother, Kaye O’Bara, to never leave her side, and her family never did.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, news, pro-life

The Wisdom of Zig Ziglar

I was saddened yesterday to learn of the death of Zig Ziglar, a bestselling author and motivational speaker. He was 86. Zig inspired us and lifted our spirits by lifting up the name of Jesus. He reminded us to believe in ourselves only because Christ first believed in us.

Here are a few favorite quotes from over the years from the tongue and pen of Zig Ziglar:

Make every effort to be perceived as the most capable, not the most visible.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: news, relationships