children Archives

How to Teach Your Kids About God

Note: This article by Focus on the Family President Jim Daly appears in full on Fox News.

Once upon a time, the vast majority of Americans were affiliated with a particular faith community or tradition: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Jewish, for example.

In recent years, though, secularism has been growing and a new wave of either atheism or agnosticism is rolling across the country. It may be true that a degree of “unbelief” has always existed, but with rising rates of people unaffiliated with any church or faith at all, the likelihood of interacting and being influenced by a person who believes in a higher power is similarly depressed.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith, parenting February 19, 2020 by Jim Daly

Adorable Child Warms Hearts and Reminds Us How to Pray

There are a lot of things we can learn from children.

Often, we can become so busy with the hustle and bustle of life, that we forget to take time for what matters most. For Christians, spending time in prayer and reading Scripture can too quickly become an afterthought.

I was reminded of this recently when I came across a video of an adorable schoolboy leading his fellow classmates in prayer before breakfast.

The boy folded his hands, bowed his head, closed his eyes and, with furrowed eyebrows, devoutly prayed:

“Father God, we thank you for this food.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith January 21, 2020 by Jim Daly

How to Raise Strong Believers

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 26, 2019 by Jim Daly

Trusting God with Your Adult Child

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 23, 2019 by Jim Daly

Raising Boys to Become Godly Young Men

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.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, men, mothers December 19, 2019 by Jim Daly

Motivating Your Kids to Reflect the Character of God

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?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 9, 2019 by Jim Daly

Finding Better Ways to Communicate with Your Children

Mom and Dad, are you tugboats or rudders? You can tell by the way you motivate your children.

Tugboat parents get their children going the right direction by pulling them through the water. There’s a lot of nagging, mild threats, and endless warnings against the consequences of bad choices.

Every parent has done that, I think. I know I’ve grabbed the rope and started to pull when one of my boys hasn’t made a good decision.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting November 8, 2019 by Jim Daly

Guest Post: Nine Hours and 49 Minutes per Day

Today’s Young People Are Clocking in More “Entertainment Media” Then Ever Before

By: Jonathan McKee

“I can’t get my kids to pry their eyes from their screens for more than a minute!”

It’s probably the biggest complaint I hear from moms and dads at my parent workshops each weekend. Kids are soaking in more entertainment media than ever before.

I’m sure you’re not surprised when I tell you a brand‐new report has revealed screen time is up.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting, technology November 1, 2019 by Jim Daly

Timeless Truths in a Changing World

You may have read “The Fox and the Crow” when you were a child. As you’ll recall, the famous story from “Aesop’s Fables” warns us to be wary of flattery.

Or, you may have read about Christian’s journey to the Celestial City in “Pilgrim’s Progress.” On the road to the Celestial City, Christian meets a giant named Despair. Just as Christian must overcome the giant, Despair is a reality many Christians face in their spiritual lives.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: book, children, parenting October 17, 2019 by Jim Daly

Rethinking Your Parenting Strategies

A father who came to psychologist Michael Anderson’s office for counseling illustrates the shift in thinking many moms and dads need to make.

The father said, “In the last 90 days, my daughter has completely changed. She’ll do anything her friends tell her to do. She’s smoking. She’s drinking. She’s shoplifting.”

Michael asked him, “What was she like 90 days ago?”

The father said, “She was an A-student. She was in the church youth group. She’d do anything we told her to do.”

That last phrase caught Michael’s ear.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting October 8, 2019 by Jim Daly