Jim Daly

How to Tackle Tough Times

I recently heard a story that was pulled from the pages of Australia’s history books. It struck me as a good lesson on how to approach and handle modern-day struggles.

In the late 1790’s the common belief throughout the Australian colony was that the region beyond the imposing Blue Mountains was lush and fertile. As such, numerous explorers set out to try and to conquer the area. While planning their trips, as conventional wisdom would suggest, they steered clear of the steep ridges and deep gorges of the terrain.

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Honest Mistakes

“There’s no crying in baseball!” At least according to Tom Hanks’ character in the 1992 film, A League of Their Own. But is there forgiveness? Thankfully, the answer to that question is, well, yes. Have you been following the drama in Detroit that featured Armando Galarraga’s near perfect game this past Wednesday?

If you missed the action, with two outs in the 9th inning and with Armando having retired the previous 26 batters, first base umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe, although replays clearly indicated he was out.

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Remembering Art Linkletter

America lost one of its good guys last week when the affable and genial Art Linkletter passed away at the age of 97.

Art was the host of two of television’s longest-running programs, “House Party” and “People are Funny.” Like millions of Americans, I have terrific memories of watching him talk and laugh with young children. Being a child myself back in the 1960s, I could relate to the kids appearing on his show. In fact, I can remember thinking they looked and thought and sounded a lot like me.

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Update on Ethan

If you’re new to my blog, let me point you to the touching and inspiring story of my nephew, Ethan. I blogged about Ethan earlier this year (see A Picture of Perseverance).

In short, our sweet little relative has endured far more than most adults. He’s undergone three open heart surgeries, all to reconstruct his entire coronary system. Throughout the long ordeal he has maintained an amazing attitude.

Since many of my readers were so kind to pray for Ethan, I thought I’d give an update on his condition as well as share some exciting news from within his family.

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Dan Was Right

In 1992, Murphy Brown was one of the hottest sitcoms on television. As you may recall, the show took its name after the lead character, a fictional forty-something TV news anchor. During its fourth season, the storyline took a controversial turn when Murphy—who was unmarried on the show—found herself “pregnant” and, rather than marrying the father, decided to raise the “baby” on her own.

That prompted then-Vice President Dan Quayle to take to task what he viewed as television’s glorification of single parenting as well as further evidence of the “poverty of values” plaguing America.

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Talking Smack with Teens

Yesterday I blogged about a new book by my friend and colleague Glenn Williams entitled, Talking Smack. I thought I’d add a few additional thoughts on this important topic. Not only is Glenn a psychologist and writer, he is also a substance abuse expert who offers solid advice on how to talk to your kids honestly and openly about drugs. Based upon years of training, Glenn can help you steer your youth toward making healthy decisions when temptation and peer pressure come knocking.

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Talking Smack

Glenn Williams is my friend and colleague here at Focus on the Family. In addition to serving as our Chief Operating Officer, Glenn is a psychologist, writer and substance abuse expert who has worked with parents and teens for more than 20 years. He’s recently authored an excellent new book titled, Talking Smack, on the perils of drug addiction, and offers mothers and fathers practical advice in dealing with the subject. I was privileged to be invited to pen the foreword and would love to offer you a sneak peek of the project.

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

The Political Illusion

As you may know, my family turned-off our television set a couple of years ago. It was a personal decision; we found ourselves wasting way too much time watching it and too little time talking together as a family. I wouldn’t presume to suggest that you do the same, or feel guilty if you don’t. All I can tell you is that it has done wonders for the cohesiveness of the Daly family.

Perhaps this decision is why I so quickly connected with a recent column from Chuck Colson.

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Predictors of Success

Wall Street Journal columnist and bestselling author Peggy Noonan penned an interesting column this past Friday. In it, she focused primarily on the forthcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Solicitor General Elena Kagan. She predicts they will be bland, more “show over substance” and full of senators “who give long soliloquies and put forth extremely long and circuitous questions.” She also thinks they’ll be plenty of posturing along with “vanity and camera hogging.”

I think Peggy is right, but she also made a few intriguing comments that confirms and highlights the very mission of Focus on the Family.

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What Makes a Good Judge?

That’s the question I posed to my friend Chuck Colson during a recent Focus on the Family radio program that discussed President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court.

Solicitor General Kagan is a former Dean of Harvard’s law school and clearly a very bright and accomplished scholar. But during our visit, Chuck expressed some deep reservations about the Solicitor General’s nomination. Chuck’s objections were not based on her intellect but instead her judicial philosophy.

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