Daly Focus Blog
Pastoring can be a tough, stressful job.
Most of us don’t realize how true that is because we’re only with our pastors for an hour or two on Sunday mornings and have little understanding of the time and energy necessary to keep the church moving forward.
Did you know that the average pastor works 50 to 74 hours per week, doing all kinds of jobs – teacher, counselor, worship leader, business executive, even janitorial and maintenance work?
Infidelity is one of the top reasons why marriages end in divorce. That should come as no surprise. It’s hard to repair the gaping wounds that an affair rips into a relationship. Many couples choose to walk away. Even Christians often view infidelity as a “get out of jail free card.”
Josh and Katie Walters know firsthand the betrayal and devastation of infidelity. They now serve on staff at Seacoast Church, a multi-campus ministry in South Carolina, but six years into their marriage, Katie confessed that she was having an affair with one of Josh’s best friends.
The secret to winning in a team sport is no secret at all. Teammates share a common goal, and they work together to achieve it.
That commitment to unity is what makes marriage work, too. Working together as a team isn’t always easy. Joshua and Christi Straub are both experienced counselors, but even they overlook the importance of teamwork from time to time. Like the day Joshua came home and told Christi about all of the exciting projects he had going on at work.
Most toddlers share one thing in common – they want their own way. We’ve all seen the “throw yourself on the floor” tantrums that often shows up as a result. But what’s a parent to do when the kicking and screaming starts? We’d like to share a few helpful suggestions.
Most importantly, when your child demands his own way, don’t give in. If you do, he’ll learn that tantrums work and is more likely to throw a fit the next time he wants something.
For 20 years, Jessie Minassian has been a spiritual “big sis” to teen girls and young women. She offers encouragement about love, dating, loneliness, purity, and living out faith in relevant ways.
She’s joining me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to help teen girls create a godly identity – from which comes a well-balanced and happy life.
Jessie and I discussed how navigating family conflict can be like a paintball battle, why you may need to turn down the volume in your busy, noisy life so you can hear from God more clearly, and the positive impact of smiling more.
Tyrone Flowers knows firsthand the challenges that at-risk children face in our culture today.
His father was murdered when Tyrone was ten years old. After his mother made it clear that she didn’t want to be a mother, he lived with his grandmother and her 12 children. While she worked multiple jobs, Tyrone was raised by teenagers who were 10 to 15 years older than him, exposing him to drugs, sex and alcohol at an early age.
God calls many women to positions of leadership and influence. That’s a gift to any community because women are often more collaborative, participative and inclusive than their male counterparts.
If God has led you into leadership, I encourage you to listen to my conversation with author Deborah Pegues on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Deborah spent many years leading in the corporate world. She’s a CPA, a certified behavioral consultant, a Bible teacher, and an international speaker.
Here’s an eye-opening stat for you: research shows that children spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their phones every day!
That’s even more troubling when you consider studies that show a connection between pervasive technology use and rising levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts in children and teens.
How much technology is too much? Maybe a better question is, “How can parents help their children navigate technology well, especially since it’s become integral to how we manage our lives?”
On Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, I’m talking with author Molly DeFrank about how parents can reset technological boundaries and behaviors for their children.
When things go wrong, we say, “Life spiraled downward.” What we mean is that bad choices quickly multiply.
But good choices multiply as well. In the same way that life can spiral downward, it can also spiral upward. How? One small step at a time.
Nobody likes being told to be patient. Suggestions like, “Take it slow” or, “Just stack one good choice on top of another” are never popular. We’d all rather go from A to Z in one leap.
Some people believe the definition of marriage should be anything we want it to be. No exclusions. No boundaries.
The problem with that idea is the fabric of reality itself. Marriage was created to function within a particular design because it’s powerful – so powerful that we need guardrails to channel its influence.
To understand what I mean, consider the design of electrical cords on most of the lamps, TVs, and small appliances in your home.
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.
