family Archives

Remembering the Pilgrims’ Journey

It’s easy to forget the origins of the holidays we celebrate. For a lot of people, Thanksgiving is about family, football, and pumpkin pie.

That’s all good stuff. But it’s also good to remind ourselves of the true origin of Thanksgiving and to remember how grateful we should be to live in a nation that has been immeasurably blessed by God.

While you’re fixing your Thanksgiving feast today, or heading over to Grandma’s in the car, tune into our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Remembering the Pilgrims’ Journey.”

Professor Jay Milbrandt, a professor at Bethel University in Minnesota, is with us to peel back the layers of history and get us back to what the first Thanksgiving was all about.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, holidays, thanksgiving November 22, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reducing Drama in Your Relationships

The holiday season can be one of the most joyful times of the year. But it can also be one of the most stressful.

Spending time with family during Thanksgiving and Christmas sounds enjoyable in July and August. But once November and December arrive, you realize how much needs to get done, and you remember what’s it like to be in a house filled with people who have different interests, different traditions, even differing political and spiritual viewpoints.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, drama, family, holidays, relationships November 19, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Keeping Love Alive During Deployment

Two days after Jocelyn Green and her husband married, the military relocated them from Washington, D.C. to Alaska. A few weeks later – on their one-month anniversary, in fact – her husband kissed her goodbye and left for deployment.

Military couples can relate to the uncertainty and stress deployment causes. They can also identify with the challenges the Greens faced once they reunited. Jocelyn and her husband expected their reunion to feel like a second honeymoon.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, marriage, military November 8, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Adoption: Making a Difference in the Life of a Child

Can you open your heart to a child who needs a family?

If you answered no, you’re not alone. Many couples wrestle with whether or not they should adopt, or if there’s some other part they should play.

That was how Mike and Kristen Berry’s story began.

Kristen assumed she and Mike would adopt children when they married. Adoption was Kristen’s family legacy. Her grandfather and his brother grew up in the foster care system, but they were never adopted.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, broadcast, faith, family, kids November 5, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Loving the Story of Your Marriage

Brad Rhoads didn’t think he had a problem with his marriage. He was putting a lot of energy and creativity into building a law practice. His clients and colleagues all thought he was attentive and engaged.

Not his wife, Marilyn. She thought Brad invested so much of his energy into his work that he had nothing left to invest in his marriage.

There was no affair, no huge blow-up. But Brad had taken his eyes off the Lord and his wife, and their relationship was suffering a slow leak.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, marriage October 30, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Developing a Love of Prayer in Your Kids

In our Welcome Center here at the Focus on the Family campus, children have the opportunity to leave their prayer requests with us.

One of my favorites is from a 9-year-old boy who wrote, “Please pray for my brother. He wets the bed. And pray for me. I share the bed with my brother.”

Some prayer requests are much more serious, like an 8-year-old boy who asked God to help his dad stop drinking, so he could be healthy again.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, prayer October 29, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Halloween Safety Tips for Families

Does your family go trick-or-treating?

It’s one of those issues good Christians can (and sometimes do) disagree on. In previous years, I’ve written about how Christians tend to think about Halloween in one of three ways:

They enjoy it, focusing on the fun and candy part of it.
They amend it, so their children can enjoy activities like a “harvest festival” or “trunk or treating” at church.
They ignore it by not acknowledging the day in order to remain true to their convictions.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, parenting October 25, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Encouragement for Moms

I want to introduce you to Erin Hawley, Focus on the Family’s newest author. Erin is a wife, mother to two young boys and also a practicing lawyer and professor of law. This following excerpt comes from her wonderful new book, Living Beloved: Lessons from My Little One About the Heart of God.

If you think of someone who needs this does of perspective, please consider passing it along. I’d also like to encourage you to pick up a copy of her book in our store – and let me know how this message resonate with you by leaving your feedback in the comments section below.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids, mother, wife October 24, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Understanding How Your Teen Thinks

We had Jeramy and Jerusha Clark on our Focus on the Family Broadcast last year to talk about what’s going on in our teens’ brains. It was fascinating.

We learned that teenagers often can’t articulate what they’re feeling. They don’t recognize that they’re lonely and insecure, or that they need more attention from you. Since they can’t ask for specific help, they often express their emotions through behavior.

We have Jeramy and Jerusha back with us again to discuss the way teens think.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting October 23, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Hope and Healing After Losing a Child

There aren’t many things more devastating than losing a child.

Pam Vredevelt and her husband have endured the incredible pain and grief of losing two children.

After nine years of marriage, Pam became pregnant for the first time. The baby was developing right on schedule, but at a routine check-up, Pam’s doctor said, “I’m not seeing any heartbeat. I think the baby is dead.”

They had three more children after that. Their youngest, Nathan, was born with Down Syndrome.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids October 15, 2018 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura