Jim Daly

Building Lasting Memories in Your Family

Many moms feel overwhelmed by the shopping, cooking, and high expectations of the holiday season.

But making memories doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. One of author Jessica Smartt’s best memories is taking her first communion class. She doesn’t remember a lot of theology, but she does remember her mother taking her through a McDonald’s drive-thru to get a cheeseburger afterward. Just the two of them together, eating in the family pickup truck.

This time of year, it’s good to remember that a good reason for traditions is to connect with your children, to let them know that their family supports them, and to bond them deeply to their Christian faith.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting

The First Thanksgiving

It’s been over 400 years since the first Thanksgiving – and yet the more times change, the more they remain the same.

Thanksgiving 2023 comes during a highly volatile and uneven time in America’s history. Dissension and dysfunction seem to be everywhere. Anger and frustration are running high. You can feel it. You can see it.

Whether politically, economically, socially or spiritually, nobody knows for sure what is coming next – or even if it’s coming at all.

Well, truth be told, that sounds a bit like the first Thanksgiving.

Hollywood and artists tend to paint that first feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 as this idyllic Hallmark Hall of Fame kind of moment.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, family

Somehow Form a Family

In 1969, The Brady Bunch became the first sitcom in television history to depict what was then a new trend in America: a blended family. Mike and Carol Brady, who both had three children from previous relationships, strived hard each week to – as the theme song said – “somehow form a family.” Most of the problems they faced were humorous and easy to resolve in 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, things are rarely that simple in real life.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage

Fueling Motherhood Through Spiritual Discipline

Before having children, author Heidi St. John’s confidence in God felt unshakable. A few years and a few children later, Heidi felt so discouraged that she could barely get out of bed.

She remembers waking one cold January morning and hearing her children arguing in another room. The day hadn’t even begun, and she was already defeated. She willed herself to her feet by opening her Bible and reading from the Psalms. She soon realized that, while she had placed her confidence in her own abilities, King David’s praises were rooted in his confidence in God.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting

Lean into Your Daughter

Dad, don’t let your teenage daughter fool you. She needs you. I know her attitude may not always reflect that, but it’s true. She’s caught in a whirlwind of hormones and emotional upheaval. Her self-worth is under attack, and her social world is topsy-turvy. On top of that, she’s physically growing, changing, and feeling awkward. With you. With everybody.

Over the next few years, your daughter’s attitude will tempt you to disengage from her, to keep her at arm’s length.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting

When God Gives You the Family You Never Expected

November is National Adoption Month.

In the United States, there are nearly 400,000 children in the foster care system whose parents cannot safely care for them. These children need someone who will house them and provide for their basic needs.

Addressing this issue is not easy because foster care is not easy. Consider that the process always begins with a child losing a home and a family. Nevertheless, God is present in the midst of confusion.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting

Blending Two Lives into One Flesh

Author Kari Trent Stageberg – daughter of psychologist and author Dr. John Trent – and her husband, Joey, coach couples toward greater health and connection.

They say there’s a moment in every marriage that permanently changes the relationship. It’s called the “merge moment.” It occurs when husbands and wives realize their differences have the potential to drive them apart.

“Merge moments” are like two rushing rivers crashing into one another. They can be noisy, messy, and unpredictable.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage

Music of Hope

What would you say are the most crucial ingredients to human survival? Food? Water? Shelter? Equally important is the need for hope.

The Jewish Holocaust was one of the darkest periods in human history. Over six million people were murdered in German concentration camps. Millions more barely survived horrific conditions of disease, abuse, and starvation. The misery was unbearable.

When the Allies liberated camps throughout Europe, they were shocked by what they found among the gas chambers and mass graves – drawings, writings, sheets of music, all created by prisoners.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family

American Heroes: Serving on the Front Lines

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, a day to remember military servicemen and women who have served and sacrificed in defense of our nation’s freedom.

Former Marine and expert in PTSD and military and veterans’ issues Chad Robichaux is joining us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “American Heroes: Serving on the Front Lines.”

Chad originally joined the military after 9/11 fueled by a desire for retribution against terrorists. During eight tours of duty in Afghanistan, his interpreter, a man named Aziz, became like a brother and saved Chad’s life three times.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, news

Getting Organized for Christmas

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?

It’s not if you want a stress-free holiday season.

Social media raises our expectations to overwhelming levels. Instead of peace and joy, we feel pressure to transform our homes into Christmas wonderlands. Instead of peace and joy, Christmas becomes a time of stress and “stuff” for many of us, each day filled with lights, decorations, shopping, parties, or family get-togethers.

It’s all wonderful, but it also inhibits us from reflecting more deeply on the hope of Christmas – our Savior.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family