Daly Focus Blog
A great Thanksgiving-related story out of Phoenix this week, where an accidental text message from a grandma to a young man who wasn’t her grandson resulted in an unlikely inter-generational friendship.
The viral tale reminded me of another story some might call happenstance… but I know was God’s providence. I first shared this entry in 2013… and I think it’s worth reposting today. Hope you enjoy… -J.D.
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She first saw the elderly gentleman at a cemetery on Thanksgiving morning.
We all know what heroism looks like. It’s a soldier risking his life to save his buddy’s. It’s the police officer and fireman running toward the danger, not away from it. And I’d add to that: It’s loving families who are willing to open their homes and their hearts to children who need both.
A few weeks ago, Jean and I, and about 60 others, were in Israel with Ray Vander Laan, the host and teacher of Focus on the Family’s That the World May Know series.
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just a week from this Thursday?
Since it’s always a good idea to reflect on the virtue of gratitude – or to talk with your children about the meaning behind the holiday – Focus on the Family’s parenting team has put together a free resource that will help your family prepare for our national day of thanks.
The “7 Days of Gratitude” week-long devotional is designed to help children (and their parents!) develop “an attitude of gratitude.” Because the reality is, creating a thankful heart takes practice.
As a Christian who believes in the ultimate sovereignty of God, I have to believe He allows our circumstances to fulfill his plans. As the prophet Daniel said, “He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”
I pray that God grants us the grace and wisdom to seek his heart for all people made in his image, the preborn, the elderly, progressive and conservative, each one of us.
They pooled their resources to buy a graveyard.
Pastor Fareed Assad was secluded in an underground room with ten members of his leadership team when he issued this ominous invitation:
“ISIS is overtaking our region,” he said. “God may be calling some of you to flee and some of you to stay. Take a week to pray and fast. If God calls you to stay, come back to this location one week from today.”
By some estimates, half the population in Syria is homeless.
The longest drought in the history of American sports is over.
As we all know by now, after 108 years without a championship, baseball’s Chicago Cubs won the World Series last night, giving life-long fans like me a chance to celebrate after a lifetime of frustration, futility, and being the easy punch line to a seemingly limitless supply of jokes.
Simba: Hey Dad, what is a World Series?
Mufasa: I wouldn’t expect you to know, Simba.
“I dreamt many times of making it and getting in front of a crowd and playing music.”
That’s a lofty vision for any kid who’s alone with a guitar and dreaming his empty bedroom will someday become an audience of thousands. But country singer and songwriter Jimmy Wayne still believed.
That was no small accomplishment given his tumultuous childhood, which didn’t exactly teach him life was filled with possibilities.
His mother was bipolar and wasn’t receiving proper treatment, so Jimmy never knew what her behavior might be on any given day.
By now some of you have received my October newsletter which featured an excerpt from my colleague and co-writer Paul Batura’s new book, “Chosen for Greatness: How Adoption Changes the World.” In his warm conversational style, Paul, an adoptive father himself, tells the fascinating stories of sixteen well-known adoptees.
Included in the book are such familiar names as Apple founder Steve Jobs, First Lady Nancy Reagan, the inventor and botanist George Washington Carver and President Gerald Ford.
“I didn’t believe in God anymore. I felt like people were offering me a broken chair to sit in.”
That devastating lie, and others, were sown deep in Lacey Sturm’s heart early in life, and it nearly drove her to commit suicide.
She was 10 years old when her 3-year-old cousin was beaten to death by his stepdad. Any assurance that God noticed Lacey or cared about her at all died that day, too.
“Where is God?” she wondered.
Many of my conservative friends don’t see eye-to-eye on this year’s election, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Scroll through social media, go to churches across the country – goodness, go to a family dinner table! – and you might see good, sincere Christians with differing opinions on who to elect for president and how to think through the voting process.
For some evangelicals, it might be the first time they’ve faced this level of disagreement with their family or church community over a presidential election.
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.
