Jim Daly

Six Predictors of Marital Success and Happiness

How’s your marriage?

According to Dr. John Gottman, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Washington and the founder of the Gottman Relationship Institute, there are several things to consider when gauging the health of your marriage.

Here they are:

1. High Levels of Friendship, Respect, Affection, and Humor

This is defined as liking each other, being each other’s best friend, doing things together; showing interest in and respect for the other’s thoughts and feelings, avoiding put-downs, supporting each other’s goals and aspirations, feeling affection for each other, having fun and laughter together, being Number One in each other’s eyes.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: relationships

Why the Proposition 8 Decision Matters

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision this past Wednesday nullifying the votes of 7 million Californians was, obviously, deeply troubling. The appeal process will be costly and lengthy, but those of us committed to marriage should be optimistic and hopeful. Our own analysts have carefully studied the ruling and fully expect the decision to be overturned upon appeal.

Nevertheless, you might be wondering why the Proposition 8 decision, an issue presumably only dealing with the state of California, should matter to every person in every state of the union.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, marriage, policy

A Family Update

Some of you may have heard or read about Focus on the Family reducing its budget by $27 million for the upcoming year. Of course, we’re hardly alone. Nearly every ministry, organization and corporation in America has been forced to deal squarely with today’s challenging economic times.

In order to balance the books, we’ve trimmed 13% of our staff, which means we’ll be saying good-bye to 110 of our friends and colleagues in these coming days and weeks.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, finances, staff

When Good Inventions Go Bad

It’s a product of the fallen nature of man:

Anything and everything that was created for good, from medicine to technology, will eventually be corrupted for ill purposes.
A recent case in point: A new “video conferencing” feature made exclusively for Apple’s iPhone. It’s called FaceTime. Here is how the company is promoting it:

People have been dreaming about video calling for decades. iPhone 4 makes it a reality. With the tap of a button, you can wave hello to your kids, share a smile from across the globe, or watch your best friend laugh at your stories — iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 over Wi-Fi.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, sex, technology

What Tim Tebow’s Deal with Jockey Tells Us

Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos first-round draft pick and Focus on the Family’s favorite QB, is in the news again today, this time for signing on as a spokesman for Jockey underwear.

The punsters are having a field day with the association (I’ll refrain), but I’m happy for Tim and his family. After he agreed to film Focus on the Family’s “controversial” Super Bowl commercial, many industry watchers suggested he had blown any chance for major endorsement deals.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, news, pop culture

Arguing Happily Ever After

Somebody once said there are two types of married couples – those who argue (from time to time) and those who lie and say they don’t.

There was an interesting article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that suggests it’s not if we argue, but how we argue that will determine the overall health of our marriages.

All couples disagree – it’s how they disagree that makes the difference,” reports Howard Markman, professor of psychology at the University of Denver and co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies.

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

Bigotry and Marriage

Frank Rich is a long-time columnist for The New York Times. As a former drama critic, he’s no stranger to the stage and certainly knows how to stir the pot. He once referred to the Passion of the Christ film as “a porn movie, replete with slo-mo climaxes and pounding music for the money shots.”

Mr. Rich has been a frequent critic of evangelical Christianity. Focus on the Family has born the brunt of his sharp pen several times, but as an opinion columnist, he gets paid to share his perspective, and that’s part of what makes America great.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: homosexuality, marriage

Life Saving Pizza???

George Linn might very well be alive today because he ordered a pizza.

This past Friday the Lakewood, Colorado man was awaiting delivery of a pie when he suffered a heart attack. His wife, Kami, was about to call 911 when Chris Wuebben, the pizza delivery man, showed up with their order.

Bad timing?

Hardly.

Mr. Wuebben had been a paramedic in Ilinois before moving to Colorado.

While Mrs. Linn called 911, Chris Wuebben administered CPR, stopping the heart attack.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, faith, humor

The Pride of the Yankees

It’s been a tough few days in the Bronx. Although the New York Yankees enjoy one of the most celebrated traditions in all of sports, this week has been anything but traditional for the legendary baseball club.

On Sunday morning, Bob Sheppard, the team’s long-time public address announcer, died. He was 99. Two days later and 12 hours before Major League Baseball’s All-Star game, the team’s former owner, George Steinbrenner, suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: entertainment, events, pop culture

Modern Day Miracles

I wrote last time about the media’s obsession with bad and sensational news. Sadly, the headlines are so often dominated by negative developments even though the world is full of beauty, wonder and yes, miracles. So much of life is based upon things unfolding behind the scenes outside our view. Our days, much more than we fully appreciate and acknowledge, are guided and controlled by God’s invisible hand.

In other words, what we see is not all there is.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, parenting