Daly Focus Blog
Parenting is only for adults.
That’s what Dr. Emerson Eggerichs tells parents who struggle with what he calls the “family crazy cycle.”
It works like this: When children feel unloved, they tend to react in ways that feel disrespectful toward their parents. When parents feel disrespected, they tend to react in ways that feel unloving to the child.
And the cycle starts to spin.
Parenting is only for adults because it’s up to mom and dad – not the child – to stop the crazy cycle.
Joshua Becker says, “I don’t know if the three most common words in American homes are, ‘I love you,’ or ‘Let’s go shopping.’”
The amount of stuff the average American owns is astounding. Our cabinets, crawl spaces, garages, and storage rooms are filled to capacity. Some people even rent additional space at a storage unit to hold even more stuff.
The statistics are unbelievable. American homes have tripled in size in the last 50 years, yet 10 percent of families rent offsite storage.
Week Ending January 12, 2018.
Enjoy!: The Gift of Sexual Pleasure for Women (by Cliff & Joyce Penner)
The Married Guy’s Guide to Great Sex (by Cliff & Joyce Penner)
Little Book of Great Dates (by Dr. Greg & Erin Smalley)
Kingdom Woman (by Tony Evans, Chrystal Evans Hurst)
Financial Peace Junior Kit (by Dave Ramsey)
Put the Disciple Into Discipline (by Erin MacPherson)
Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story (Ken & Joni Eareckson Tada)
The Case for Life (by Scott Klusendorf)
The Kindness Challenge (by Shaunti Feldhahn)
NIrV Adventures in Odyssey Children’s Bible
Cherish (by Gary Thomas)
Martin Luther (by Eric Metaxas)
Openness Unhindered (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Honey, We Need to Talk (by David E.
You see somebody’s true character when they struggle.
That’s what’s so great about Jase and Missy Robertson, from the Duck Dynasty family. They’re the real deal. They’re as down home as they portray themselves to be. They also love Jesus and want you to know it.
The whole Robertson clan has a deep-seated faith in Christ. That was never more evident than when their daughter Mia was born with a cleft palate – a serious condition that required multiple cranial and facial surgeries, eight major procedures so far in the first 11 years of her life.
Week Ending January 2, 2018
Openness Unhindered (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Cherish (by Gary Thomas)
The Kindness Challenge (by Shaunti Feldhahn)
Exploring the Joy of Christmas (by Phil Robertson)
Hope Rising (by Kim Meeder)
7 Women (by Eric Metaxas)
7 Men (by Eric Metaxas)
Forgive, Let Go, and Live (by Deborah Smith Pegues)
Honey, We Need to Talk (by David E. Clarke)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Your Teenager Is Not Crazy (by Dr.
I’ll never forget the day I got my driver’s license. It was all I could talk about for an entire year before. It was a time-honored tradition back then: do whatever necessary to get your license by the time you’re fifteen, no later than sixteen. That little plastic ID got me and my friends out of the house and enabled us to hang out with each other whenever and wherever we wanted. My driver’s license was key to my social world.
According to billionaire Richard Branson, the secret to making and keeping your New Year’s resolutions is a pen and piece of paper.
“It’s time to get your New Year’s resolutions down on paper,” he recently wrote. “The simple act of writing it down will help you stick to it. Share your goals with your family and friends but ultimately it’s down to you to make your resolution happen in 2018.”
Goal-setting can be very effective, but as we head off into an uncharted new year, I want to ask you a related question, but with a twist:
What if you made a commitment this year to STOP doing so many things?
Chuck Colson once said to me, “By age 10, your children’s moral compass is pretty well set.”
His wisdom confirmed what Jean and I already believed from our earliest days of parenting: we only had a few short years to impart biblical wisdom and a love for Jesus to our two boys. It’s a task that we’ve taken seriously ever since. But we also discovered early that “serious” doesn’t have to mean “dull” or “boring.”
Thankfully, there’s no magical “one way” for moms and dads to pass their faith on to their children.
Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than blindness is having sight but no vision.”
Scripture says that we lose our way without vision (Proverbs 29:18).
Vision is the ability to focus your attention on God’s plan and his ability to accomplish it. God calls each of us to a vision that is bigger than us. He invites us into things that require the best of us and that will outlive us.
What is that “thing” for you?
In 2017, Focus on the Family celebrated 40 years of strengthening marriages, equipping parents, speaking on behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves and addressing public policy issues affecting the family.
“It’s an honor to be part of 40 years of strengthening millions of families,” Focus on the Family President Jim Daly expressed. “Our work in helping couples in crisis has contributed to over 170,000 marriages saved in 2017 alone. There are similar stories about people’s lives changed for the better through our efforts in evangelism, parenting, advocacy for children and engaging the culture, as well.
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.
