Daly Focus Blog
The holidays are over, and you’re probably running at high speed in a lot of directions.
The end of the workday doesn’t mean your work is over. Somebody has to pick up the kids from soccer practice and run to the store for groceries. After that, you still have to get home and make dinner, which can take a couple of hours once you cook, eat, and clean up the mess.
Who’s got time for that?
Racing wasn’t just a day job for NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip. I can tell you from experience, he was wired for it.
I played golf with him once, and he nearly took off in the golf cart without me. He wanted to beat the other members in our group to the next tee. He was literally zigging and zagging all along the cart path to keep them behind us … where they belonged, apparently. After Darrell won the short chase, he looked at me and said, “Life is a race to me.”
I love the adrenaline rush of a fast car, but I’m wired a lot differently than Darrell.
Theresa had a stroke 18 years ago. She lost control over her hands. Which means for all these years she’s struggled to do simple things in life, like styling her own hair. That’s why when she goes to the beauty salon, she leaves with a smile. She feels beautiful.
The trouble is, as soon as she washes her hair it falls flat, and she can’t get it to look the way her stylist does. Which means, until her next hair appointment comes around, Theresa doesn’t smile as much.
If God is good, why does He allow evil to exist?
Maybe your kids have asked you that to see how you answer. Have you ever asked your kids that question to see how they answer?
Or how about these?
Where did the universe come from?Do science and religion contradict each other?Do all religions worship the same God?How do we know God hears and answers prayer?
Natasha Crain didn’t know how to answer such important questions.
I know of a couple whose daughter disappeared from home in a fit of rebellion on her 18th birthday. Her parents were devastated. For years, they didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
Early on, her mother made a simple decision. Every night – all night – she would turn on the porch light. It was an unspoken message to her daughter: “You’re always welcome home.”
Many nights, tears streamed down that mother’s face as she locked the front door, switched on the light, and prayed for her daughter.
Masculinity is in crisis. Numerous studies show it. Boys are struggling to mature into competent young men, and men and fathers in general are often dismissed, or denigrated, in the culture.
Even when criticism is justified, the solution isn’t to tear down masculinity. It’s to teach boys how to harness manhood and to channel it properly.
That’s where you come in, Mom.
For every study that shows boys are in trouble, there’s another showing that boys grow into healthy, strong, and courageous young men when they have healthy and secure attachments with their mothers.
A couple of years ago, we shared Dr. Rosaria Butterfield’s dramatic conversion testimony. In the late ‘90s, she was professor of English and queer theory at Syracuse University in New York. She was living proudly as a lesbian and feminist and was an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights.
Her turn to faith came about from what she calls “radically ordinary hospitality.” That’s where you open your home and your life to neighbors, friends, and strangers and intentionally share your faith.
“For a good time, call HOME!”
That’s not a bumper sticker (although it could be). It’s actually Ted Cunningham’s way of encouraging men and women to invest in their marriage.
You get out of your relationship what you put into it. That means enjoying life and marriage is a decision – a choice you make – not something you achieve by passively sitting back and hoping will come your way.
Compatibility isn’t an accident. It’s something you create in your relationship by choosing to invest your time and resources.
Christmas is all about the baby Jesus. We celebrate the truth that “unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
The Creator of the universe cloaked Himself in flesh and blood and submitted Himself to the care of human parents as a vulnerable, dependent child. It’s the ultimate expression of humility.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Unwrapping the Real Christmas,” British evangelist Canon J.John has a challenge for you this Christmas: as you celebrate the baby Jesus, allow your heart to consider the rest of His life as well.
Teaching character to children and motivating them to embrace change can be a challenge.
Dr. Kathy Koch says strengthening your relationship with your child is key to helping him or her to feel known and understood and to intentionally impart character qualities like resilience, humility, self-respect, respect for others, and self-control.
First, you model those qualities yourself. Then, you guide your children to interact with life in the same way. Communicating as a teacher, a coach, a cheerleader, and a referee, parents can address five core needs of a child:
Security – Who can I trust?Identity – Who am I?Belonging – Who wants me?Purpose – Why am I alive?Competence – What do I do well?
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.
