Daly Focus Blog
Do you ever feel small and insignificant – like the lowly plankton, tiny organisms that drift aimlessly in the ocean with no obvious sense of purpose?
If so, Sadie Robertson of the Duck Dynasty family has an encouraging word for you. She wants you to know that even plankton is significant to God. Did you know that plankton is crucial to the world’s ecosystem? Not only are they important to the ocean’s food chain, they also produce 50 percent of the world’s oxygen.
My friend and new Focus on the Family colleague, Dr. Meg Meeker, is a highly acclaimed pediatrician who has spent the past 30 years treating children, helping parents, and writing, teaching and speaking on numerous issues that impact the family. One of the best things I appreciate about Dr. Meg is that she’s practical and regularly addresses the issues parents and children are facing.
Today, I pose a question to her that I think every parent has asked or pondered:
Is the affirmation you give your kids hurting or helping them?
This essay originally ran in The Christian Post.
This past Tuesday was the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of legendary ABC Radio newsman Paul Harvey. Known for his homespun and perceptive commentaries, Mr. Harvey used to say that “In times like these, it’s important to remember there have always been times like these.” He was right.
Wednesday’s anonymously authored New York Times Op-Ed featuring a supposed “senior-member” of the Trump administration decrying internal dysfunction set off an avalanche of criticism, and rightly so.
Racism is a problem in America.
That much is obvious. What isn’t so obvious is what to do about it. Nothing society has dreamed up has eradicated it. In fact, one could argue that certain movements seeking positive change have deepened the cultural divide rather than bridged it.
Inadvertently or intentionally, the underlying cultural message has often been “choose your side.” Stand against the black community or stand for the black community. Stand against the white community or stand for the white community.
How does one possibly sum up a life as full and as fruitful as businessman and philanthropist Richard DeVos, the Amway co-founder and friend and supporter of many evangelical Christian efforts and organizations, including Focus on the Family, who died yesterday at the age of 92?
“The Lord was good to me and I gotta go out and try and tell how good God is,” Mr. DeVos recently reflected. “I’d like to be remembered by enjoying the time we were given here by loving what the good Lord gave us, and we did the best we could with it.”
I was honored to spend a very small fraction of Richard DeVos’ time with him, shortly after I had become president of the ministry.
The Bible begins with marriage and ends with marriage.
That ought to tell us something about the importance God places on it. He’s infused it with profound meaning, both as a cultural institution and as one of the most significant relationships we can experience. It’s the bedrock of God’s design for families.
So where does that leave singles?
Throughout the Bible we’re reminded that God created us for community. No one is meant to be alone.
“What do you do?”
That’s one of the first things people ask when they’re getting to know you. Or it’s one of the first things we offer to others to describe ourselves. We define who we are by what we do.
But the “dark side” to a lifestyle ruled by opportunity, hard work, and prosperity is that we get caught in a performance trap. We believe our value and worth as people is measured solely by what we achieve, what we acquire, or what we produce.
It’s that time of year again when parents and kids are checking their back-to-school lists twice before heading out the door:
Three-ring binder? Check.
Pencil sharpener? Check.
Lunch bag? Check.
The Bible?
Yes.
The Bible is now a must-have school supply for students like Ethan, who considers it essential for surviving the school day.
“When you have the Bible right out in front of you … when it’s sitting out on the corner of your desk, or in your backpack,” said Ethan, a 16-year-old student in Colorado, “it’s a constant reminder of what God has in store for you and to do what God wants you to do, rather than doing things off of your own selfish ambitions.”
Ethan was just one of the half a million students who participated last year in Bring Your Bible to School Day—an annual, religious-freedom event for students sponsored by Focus on the Family.
Marci Seither and her husband owned a sawmill in Northern California. A customer hired them to remove a huge tree from the spot where their new home would be built. The homeowners thought it a shame to lose such a beautiful tree and planned to recycle the lumber by using it in the house’s construction.
Once the tree was cut down, however, they discovered that the wood was too weak to be used. The tree rings were too far apart.
My colleague, Public Policy’s Director of Education, Candi Cushman, recently answered some questions about the public schools that were posed to her from Decision Magazine. I thought you would find her answers both enlightening and interesting.
On a related note, if you are a parent of a school-age child, I hope you’re aware of our upcoming, Bring Your Bible to School Day. It’ll be on Thursday October 4th. It’s not too early to register and participate in some of our pre-event promotion.
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.
