Jim Daly

The Post Pandemic State of Marriage and the Family

Coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, you might have missed news last week of a significant study concerning the current state of the American Family.

“The Divided State of Our Unions: Family Formation in (Post) Covid America” confirms much of what we’ve been tracking here at Focus on the Family regarding the rapidly evolving dynamics surrounding attitudes toward marriage and children.

A crisis almost never leaves anyone the same, so a fair question to ask is just how has the global pandemic impacted our relationships?

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

Reigniting Your Passion for Jesus

I love meeting new believers in Christ. Their faith is so alive and vibrant that it bubbles over into every area of life. They are eager to serve and worship Him at every opportunity.

Do you remember feeling that way?

Unfortunately, many of us lose passion for our faith over time. We get busy with work, children, and household responsibilities, and the fire that once burned bright begins to fade.

If you’re wondering how to keep your passion alive – or to reignite it if it’s gone dull – tune in to our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Reigniting Your Passion for Jesus.” We’re speaking with Kim Meeder, author of the book Revival Rising: Embracing His Transforming Power.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Government is our Servant – Not Our God

Friday’s passage in the House of Representatives of H.R. 5376, a.k.a. the “human infrastructure bill,” represents an unprecedented grasp of government overreach that threatens to undermine the institution of the family on a number of levels.

Deceptively titled “Build Back Better,” this $2 trillion piece of legislation will actually break the backs of future generations. The only thing it builds is a deepening dependence on Uncle Sam.

The “better” way is for the United States Senate to outright reject this bill.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Healing Parent and Adult Child Relationships

One of the top calls our counseling team receives is from parents who struggle with feelings of resentment, sadness, or anger because of a fractured relationship with their adult children. It’s heartbreaking.

It’s also common. A 2015 studyby Richard Conti of Kean University found that 43 percent of college students had been estranged from their parents at some point. Twenty-six percent reported extended estrangement.

When a parent/adult child relationship is fractured, the most effective solution is to redefine the boundaries.

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

Enjoying Mealtime as a Family

Over the past couple of decades, more studies than you can count have been done to pinpoint the most crucial factors in raising emotionally strong, well-balanced kids. Almost all of them have arrived at the same conclusion: Eating together as a family is one of the most significant influences in raising healthy, well-balanced kids.

The more families eat together, the less likely children will engage in drug use, suffer from depression, develop an eating disorder, or succumb to a host of other behavioral problems.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: family

Planting the Seeds of Success in Your Kids

Parents often dream about their children becoming doctors, astronauts, or business executives. They help their children along that path by helping them develop specific talents or academic excellence.

The trouble with that approach, according to parenting expert Dr. Kevin Leman, is that it focuses on what our children will become, rather than who they’ll become.

To correct course, Dr. Leman offers parents eight strategies for raising successful kids:

Start with the end goal in mind.Expect the best, get the best.

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

Rescuing Your Marriage from Pornography

Pornography destroys marriages.

It breeds disconnection instead of intimacy.It deepens secrecy.It creates distrust.

The data is astonishing. Josh McDowell did a study which revealed that 79 percent of men in the evangelical church use pornography at least once a month. Fifty-five percent of marriages are negatively impacted by pornography.

Many women are in pain because of their husband’s pornography use. They feel isolated, ashamed, hopeless, and helpless. They’ve tried many things to fight for their marriage – like being more sexual with him; being more patient, forgiving, or gracious; or creating a more loving environment.

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

Why Praying for Yourself Is Essential

For whom do you pray? Family? Friends? Leaders? Neighbors? All of the above?

Do you pray for yourself?

Some Christians don’t. They’re consumed by the needs of others. They find it easier to seek help on behalf of someone else than to seek it for themselves. Or they believe that praying for oneself is prideful.

Author Jodie Berndt says praying for yourself is essential. For one thing, prayer connects us to the Spirit of God. As the vine feeds its branches, and the branches bear fruit, so the Lord expresses His goodness through us into the lives of other people.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, prayer

Going All Out for Your Wife

Men, we’re at war.

Most guys probably don’t think about their roles as husbands or fathers in those terms very often. That could be why so many men succumb to the dangers of pornography and adulterous affairs. They seem oblivious to how the enemy of their soul uses those temptations to ruthlessly plot their destruction.

That’s why author and speaker Dr. Steve Farrar specifically compares a man’s role in his home to point men in military conflict.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, marriage

Hope for the Anxious

On a scale of one to ten – ten being the worst – how anxious do you feel? Six? Seven? Are you ever in the eight to nine range?

Anxiety is rampant in our culture and in our homes. Anxiety is about the scary “what ifs?” in life. What if our children don’t make good decisions? What if the economy negatively impacts our jobs? We dream up horrible scenarios about everything that could happen and rehearse them over and over again in our minds.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith