Daly Focus Blog
In 1984, Bill Goodrich attended a Christmas Eve service at his church. A choir of cognitively impaired adults from local group homes sang Christmas carols. The people around Bill thought their performance was beautiful, but Bill was troubled. A new Christian at the time, he spent the rest of the service asking the Lord why He allowed some people to suffer the way they do.
What about the people he’d met in nursing homes, for example?
Relationships are the most rewarding experiences this side of heaven, but they also present a challenge. How do you restore peace and harmony to a relationship that’s struggling?
Boundaries.
God himself demonstrated why and how to create boundaries. In the Garden of Eden, He told Adam and Eve: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). That one boundary communicated four important ideas about relationships:
Boundaries define and protect freedom.
Karen Wingate was legally blind from infancy. As a child, she endured eight surgeries that only marginally improved her vision – from blind to blurry. As an adult, she prayed earnestly for God to perform a miracle. Nothing happened.
At age 55, Karen consulted with her retina specialist and discovered that her eyesight had further deteriorated to the point that surgery was needed. She was greatly discouraged until, during the procedure, the doctor said, “Mrs. Wingate, I believe I can guarantee your vision will be better than it’s ever been before.” Finally, she got her miracle.
Years ago, during my sophomore year at Cal State San Bernardino, I found myself in a difficult situation at Christmas break. I had nowhere to go. Both of my parents had died, and I wasn’t able to stay with my siblings or friends. I had to request special permission to spend the holiday on the deserted campus. For two weeks, my friends enjoyed roaring fireplaces and dinner tables full of turkey, ham, and all the trimmings.
Author Rhonda Stoppe felt prepared to be a great mom when her daughter was born. But, a few years later when she had a son, her confidence dissipated. Raising a girl felt easy. Raising a boy felt intimidating.
Many moms can relate. They understand how their daughters think, feel, and see the world. Not so their sons. My wife, Jean, did an amazing job of adapting to our two boys and creating meaningful connections with both, but she worked hard at it.
Many people keep on the lookout for big opportunities that will change their lives. But often it’s the small, seemingly insignificant moments that have the greatest impact.
Author Cecil Murphy tells how a broken heel unexpectedly led to a new life for a woman named Betty. Going about her business one day, she broke the heel of her shoe as she stepped into the street. When she sat on the curb to nurse her ankle, she noticed a shoe store for the first time, even though she must have walked by it dozens of times.
Are you ready to take on the ultimate holiday movie challenge? It’s easy and, best of all, it will bring you together as a family. Here it is. Between now and Christmas, sit down together as a family and watch as many Christmas movies as you can.
I don’t usually recommend families spend more time in front of a screen, but I’ll happily make an exception in this case. The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year for families to reconnect.
The tingles can get you married. They can also get you divorced.
Dr. Gary Chapman has heard a lot of couples in premarital counseling talk about “the tingles” – that emotional flutter we feel when we’re attracted to each other.
“The tingles” play an important role in forming romantic relationships. They turn a simple hello into a lunch date, and before long the couple is so inseparable they decide to get married.
But the tingles fade.
On our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Laying Your Life on the Line for Christ,” I’m speaking with Virginia Prodan, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Romania, terrorized by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Although he promised U.S. authorities that he would respect human and religious rights in order to gain most-favored-nation status and be awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in trade, Ceausescu’s regime confiscated Bibles, demolished churches, and persecuted Christians.
Virginia’s family members had their bank accounts seized by the government and their homes raided by armed communist sympathizers.
When Dr. Tony Evans served as a chaplain for the National Football League, he got the opportunity to speak to players on the eve of the Super Bowl. What he remembers most about that moment was the intense focus he saw in their eyes. Each player was locked in on the task at hand: winning a championship. They weren’t satisfied with a great season or a winning playoff run. They wanted a Lombardi Trophy.
What’s your Lombardi Trophy?
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.
