Jim Daly

Get a Job

If you have a teenager who’s not working a job, the question is, “Why?” Working a job will bring out qualities in your teenager that you won’t always see from them at home.

When teenagers work – whether it’s scooping ice cream, working the drive-thru at a fast-food place, or cashiering at a grocery store – they’re developing valuable life skills. They’ll learn to submit to authority and to handle responsibly when they’re in charge. They’ll learn how to serve others and to be accountable for their choices.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting

One Single Vote

Does one single vote have any power?

If you doubt that it does, you’ve probably never heard the story of Jamison Shoemaker. In 1836, he cast one single vote that set off a chain reaction of political moments that changed the course of our nation’s history.

Shoemaker, an Indiana farmer, was so busy working his fields that he forgot it was Election Day until a neighbor reminded him. Shoemaker got to the polls just before they closed.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events

Building Blocks for Self-Confidence

For children to build their self-confidence, they need opportunities to succeed on their own. But that can’t happen if parents overprotect their kids from every risk.

A few years back, my son Trent and I visited Yosemite National Park, and we got the chance to rappel down a 180-foot granite cliff called the “Prowl.” Trent isn’t usually much of a daredevil, but when our turn came, he didn’t hesitate. He gave me a big grin and over the edge he went.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

No Empty Words

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. In popular accounts from the time, Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in a barn. The small flame became an inferno that destroyed miles of homes and burned Chicago’s business district to the ground.

More recently, in 2018, the Ranch Fire in California became the largest wildfire in the state’s history, killing a firefighter and burning over 410,000 acres. It was caused by a single spark from a hammer that someone was using to drive a metal stake into the ground.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Practical Advice for Parenting Powerful Kids

Dr. Kevin Leman says strong-willed children are given a bad rap. We want to raise our kids to be strong-willed. When the world tells them, “Believe this,” or “Do that,” we want our children to know right from wrong and to have the strength of conviction to stand for it.

What we don’t want to raise, Dr. Leman says, is what he calls a “powerful child.” Powerful children have an agenda. They want to win, to control, and to dominate.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: parenting

Parents Are Fed up with Their Children Being Culture’s Casualties

Previously published in the Washington Examiner:

Make no mistake – parents will play a major part in this year’s midterm elections, which may well upend current dynamics and potentially recast the direction and priorities of the nation.

Throughout our nation’s history, mothers and fathers have served as something of a bellwether in America. Political elites may jockey and joust with one another, often behind closed doors, but their policies are felt and then ultimately received or rejected by the families whom they affect.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

Unleashing the Possibilities for Children in Foster Care

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’” (Matt. 25:40).

When we act on behalf of “the least of these,” it’s the same as ministering to Christ himself. With this in mind, Christians have a clear command to care for children.

On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Unleashing the Possibilities for Children in Foster Care,” we’re recognizing November as National Adoption Month in the U.S.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home

Bits of Magic Mirror

You and I are up against a world full of lies that distort what’s really true.

That distortion is illustrated in the classic fairytale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, the devil creates a magic mirror that distorts everything it reflects. One day, students of the devil attempt to carry the mirror into heaven so they can mock God and his angels. But the higher the students ascend, the more the mirror shakes … until, finally, they lose their grip.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Laughing, Loving and Lasting With Your Spouse

Is happiness in marriage attainable?

A lot of couples don’t think so.

Author Kevin Thompson says, “Absolutely!”

The catch is that couples can’t make happiness the goal. Happiness is the byproduct of an even greater objective. Connecting at a soul level. “And the two shall become one flesh” (Matthew 19:5).

How?

By working through challenges together.

Kevin’s grandparents were happily married for 70 years. People often suggested that they were “lucky” to achieve that success.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: marriage

Do You Know Who I Am?

Usually when someone asks, “Do you know who I am?” it’s an arrogant celebrity who’s had a run-in with authorities. But when that question comes from the heart of a loving mother or father, it can draw the parent and their child closer together.

The next time a conflict erupts between you and your child, ask them the question, “Do you know who I am?” You’ll probably get a confused look the first time you ask it, but it’s a good way to break through the tension and speak words that will strengthen your relationship.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Get a Job

One Single Vote

Building Blocks for Self-Confidence

No Empty Words

Practical Advice for Parenting Powerful Kids

Parents Are Fed up with Their Children Being Culture’s Casualties

Unleashing the Possibilities for Children in Foster Care

Bits of Magic Mirror

Laughing, Loving and Lasting With Your Spouse

Do You Know Who I Am?

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