Daly Focus Blog
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
According to the National Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders, someone will die from an eating disorder every 52 minutes.
One in five women experience an eating disorder by age 40, and 95% of eating disorders begin before age 25.
Those shocking number underscore the serious nature of this tragic problem. Eating disorders are complex issues with no quick solutions, affecting men, women, and children.
Author Krista Dunham developed an eating disorder after struggling with perfectionism for years.
Let me ask you three questions.
First, if God said to you, “I will answer every single prayer that you pray this week,” how many people in your life would you pray to receive Jesus?
Second question: Are you praying for them now?
Christians often grow weary of praying for someone – or give up entirely – because nothing seems to be happening.
Which leads me to my third question: What if, as we pray for others, God does something in us?
My childhood was tough. My mom died when I was nine years old. My stepdad walked out on my siblings and me the day of her funeral. After that, I spent almost two years in foster care. When I think back on those days now, I have to search through the darkness to find bright spots.
One of them was when I was 11 years old. My dad and I shared an afternoon I’ll never forget.
Modern Christians are, let’s say, comfortable. We like our comfort zones, our religious routines and our focus on “doing right.”
But what if God is calling us to something more meaningful and challenging, like living a life of service, sacrifice, and forgiveness in a way that transforms the world?
Jesus was a radical. We don’t often think of Him that way. Modern society portrays Him as respectable and polite. But Jesus not only touched lepers, but He also drove corrupted merchants out of the temple with a whip made of cords.
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.
