Daly Focus Blog
Even when life is dark, one moment can change everything.
That was beautifully illustrated in a social media post watched over 30 million times in just a few days. The video captures the moment that a marriage was rescued.
In the video, Caitlin and her soon-to-be ex-husband are celebrating their three-year-old son’s birthday. The little boy’s eyes light up when he sees his cake, covered with candles. Then, Caitlin’s husband looks into her eyes … and his eyes lit up, with love for her.
Satan wants to destroy your marriage.
That’s no scare tactic. Satan hates marriage because a loving, committed couple who use their gifts to serve each other and their community is one of the most powerful forces on Earth. Strong, healthy, god-fearing marriages produce strong, healthy, god-fearing families and communities.
To corrupt marriages, Satan attacks couples through lies that promote unhealthy fairy-tale expectations and destructive relationship myths.
Dr. Greg Smalley and Dr. Bob Paul have seen these lies at work in many couples’ marriages.
Is a happy marriage possible?
I believe the answer to that question is yes. But there is a catch: happiness isn’t dependent on good things happening to you. It’s dependent on you choosing to be happy.
Author Kevin Thompson learned that happy marriages are no accident by observing his grandparents. They were married for 70 years! After such a long time together, a lot of people suggested that they were “lucky” to have so many things go their way.
Dr. Robertson and Muriel McQuilkin were thriving in life together. And then Muriel began forgetting things. Thus, began a harrowing – yet, triumphant – story of a love that endured the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. McQuilkin served for 22 years as President of Columbia International University before leaving that position to care for his wife, Muriel, for over a decade. Theirs is an amazing story of loyalty and devotion.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Love in the Midst of Alzheimer’s,” we’re featuring the McQuilkin’s honest and compelling story of dedication in the midst of tragic illness that will inspire married couples to keep the vows they made to love “for better or for worse” and fill caregivers with encouragement and hope.
The suggestion that, “It’s never too late,” may be good advice if you’re thinking of going back to school or your diet is out of whack. But when it comes to mending broken family relationships, there’s no time like today.
Tina and her father were in such severe conflict that they didn’t speak to one another for decades. As the years rolled by, the girl – now a woman – began to regret the split and decided to reconnect with her dad, who was nearly eighty.
Every married couple has disagreements. Some of those arguments happen because of misunderstandings about what our spouse is really thinking.
Take Dan and Barb for example. Barb asked her husband a couple of weeks ago to fix the kitchen sink, but Dan hasn’t gotten around to it, yet. Barb is tired of waiting, so she reminds him that the sink is still broken. And – boom! – misunderstanding and conflict.
Barb sees the situation her way: Her husband has had plenty of time to get the job done, but he hasn’t taken the initiative to do the work.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “My Passion for the Harvest,” we’re airing a recorded message by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and founder of Harvest Crusades, which has reached over nine million people since the 90s.
Because of his mother’s promiscuous lifestyle, seven marriages, non-stop partying, and constant relocating from place to place to place, Greg had a tumultuous childhood and was lost in a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol by the time he was in high school.
Do you believe in miracles?
You should if you’re clinging to hope. Because success doesn’t always boil down to skill or hard work. Victory often requires something intangible – a miraculous intervention when the odds are stacked against you.
The “miracle on ice” on February 22, 1980, was a classic David versus Goliath tale of victory. That year, Russia was expected to win the Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey. Their players were the best in the world.
Do you have a fierce marriage?
Authors Ryan and Selena Frederick describe a “fierce marriage” as radically pursuing each other in light of Christ’s relentless love.
They experienced the truth of that idea firsthand two years into their marriage. After taking jobs in Switzerland, Ryan developed a persistent cough he dismissed as the flu. Doctors gave him antibiotics and painkillers and told him to return for a checkup in a few days. His health soon took a terrible turn for the worst, and he was diagnosed with a congenital defect called endocarditis, a life-threatening inflammation of the inner lining of his heart chambers.
In a horrifically tragic and ghoulish turn, a Canadian Parliamentary committee has recommended that its nation’s lawmakers legalize euthanasia for sick children whose deaths are “reasonably foreseeable” or who may be suffering with a disability or those who are in the country’s child welfare system.
Even worse – they think the children should be able to make the decision even without parental consent.
Canadian law already allows terminally ill and chronically ill adults to receive medical assistance to kill themselves, but expanding the legal coverage to include children is but one more heartbreaking development in the movement.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
