family Archives

How to Provide a Healthier, Happier Childhood for Your Son

According to Dr. Meg Meeker, boys today grow up in a world that is often at odds with their natural instincts to be curious and to explore. They’re taught to be cooperative and passive, to stay safe and avoid risks. What’s more, parents don’t always recognize how dangerous social media, popular entertainment, and marathon gaming can be for boys. Overconsumption can deaden their sensibilities and disconnect them from human interaction.

Dr. Meeker bases her expertise in years of clinical experience as a pediatrician, relevant scientific data, common sense, and her Christian faith.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting March 27, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rediscovering Faith in a Culture of Chaos

God’s light often shines the brightest when circumstances are at their darkest and most bleak.

Which makes today’s world an opportunity for Christians to be salt and light by recommitting to studying God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us into the lives of others – our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, and our communities. We are ambassadors for Christ, called to be prepared to “give a reason for the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 25, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tying Ties

There are a lot of great dads out there, but many men are disengaged from their boys. They don’t see masculinity as a quality they offer to their sons. They see it as something boys figure out on their own.

That was my story. I didn’t have a father to teach me how to be a man. I had to figure it out by myself. But that journey wasn’t easy, and it’s why I can say from experience that leaving a boy in the hands of “trial-and-error” is not ideal.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting March 20, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Simplify

Author Jeff Manion once decided to de-clutter his life. His goal was to throw out or give away five items every day. Over a period of six weeks, he got rid of outdated video tapes and DVDs, old sneakers, and more than a few things from the garage. At the end of that short period, Jeff succeeded in tossing out a total of 210 items.

He thought he’d feel relief. Instead, he felt disappointment – not because he missed the things he’d gotten rid of but because his life was no different in their absence.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting March 19, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Toddler Discipline

Most toddlers share one thing in common – they want their own way. We’ve all seen the “throw yourself on the floor” tantrums that often shows up as a result. But what’s a parent to do when the kicking and screaming starts? We’d like to share a few helpful suggestions.

Most importantly, when your child demands his own way, don’t give in. If you do, he’ll learn that tantrums work and is more likely to throw a fit the next time he wants something.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting March 12, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Giving Teen Girls a Brighter Future

For 20 years, Jessie Minassian has been a spiritual “big sis” to teen girls and young women. She offers encouragement about love, dating, loneliness, purity, and living out faith in relevant ways.

She’s joining me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to help teen girls create a godly identity – from which comes a well-balanced and happy life.

Jessie and I discussed how navigating family conflict can be like a paintball battle, why you may need to turn down the volume in your busy, noisy life so you can hear from God more clearly, and the positive impact of smiling more.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 11, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Take Your Family Through a Digital Fast

Here’s an eye-opening stat for you: research shows that children spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their phones every day!

That’s even more troubling when you consider studies that show a connection between pervasive technology use and rising levels of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts in children and teens.

How much technology is too much? Maybe a better question is, “How can parents help their children navigate technology well, especially since it’s become integral to how we manage our lives?”

On Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, I’m talking with author Molly DeFrank about how parents can reset technological boundaries and behaviors for their children.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, parenting March 6, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Spiral Upward

When things go wrong, we say, “Life spiraled downward.” What we mean is that bad choices quickly multiply.

But good choices multiply as well. In the same way that life can spiral downward, it can also spiral upward. How? One small step at a time.

Nobody likes being told to be patient. Suggestions like, “Take it slow” or, “Just stack one good choice on top of another” are never popular. We’d all rather go from A to Z in one leap.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 4, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Two Prongs of Marriage

Some people believe the definition of marriage should be anything we want it to be. No exclusions. No boundaries.

The problem with that idea is the fabric of reality itself. Marriage was created to function within a particular design because it’s powerful – so powerful that we need guardrails to channel its influence.

To understand what I mean, consider the design of electrical cords on most of the lamps, TVs, and small appliances in your home.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: family, marriage March 3, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What I’ve Learned

My dad left our family when I was five years old and died an alcoholic a few years later. My mom died when I was nine. Hank, my stepdad, walked out on my siblings and me the day of her funeral. After that, I lived with a foster family for a year, but they were so toxic that my life got worse, not better.

Given my broken childhood, hosting a nationally syndicated radio show about all things family has been an unexpected gift to me.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family February 28, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura