family Archives

Never Mind Your “To-Do List.” Battle Busyness with a “Stop-Doing” List

For many of us, busyness is like a badge of honor. We take pride in running from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning to the moment our heads hit the pillow at night.

But busyness can also be a tool of the enemy. It distracts us from what really matters in life. We can’t do it all. Sooner or later, something has to give.

Recent surveys detail what people say they’re sacrificing to their busyness:

56 percent lost sleep
52 percent cut back on recreation
51 percent quit hobbies
44 percent spent less time with friends
34 percent sacrificed time with their families

The secular survey didn’t ask about faith, but time with the Lord is often one of the first things to go when we’re too busy.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, relationships September 1, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Walking Through Grief with Your Children

Kathleen Fucci met, John, her future husband, on a blind date. She was 38-years-old at the time, had never been married, and didn’t have children.

The mutual friend who arranged their date began his description of John by saying, “Um … why don’t you sit down?”

He told Kathleen that John was a widower with three children. His wife, Jeanine, had died from cancer the year before at the age of 34.

Despite the uncertainty Kathleen and John felt going into that first encounter, their relationship blossomed.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting August 18, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Jesus’ Model for Leading Our Families

How do you define success?

Everybody probably has a slightly different answer. The late Zig Ziglar once said that whatever else success may be, you can’t truly be successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.

Mark 8:36 says, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

We’re all pulled in different directions, and we can easily lose sight of what’s most important in life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family August 14, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Marriage, then Baby. Why it Matters

It’s been called “the success sequence.”

That’s the order young people should reach major life milestones if they want to increase their odds of financial stability and success.

Here what the success sequence looks like: Get at least a high school education, work full-time, get married, have children – in that order.

Sadly, a new analysis of federal data finds that that’s not the order many millennials are doing things – and they’re paying the price.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, marriage, news July 27, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

According to the Media, I Attended a Hate Group Conference Last Week

A few Focus colleagues and I spent some time in California last week at a conference put on by our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, the religious liberty legal defense nonprofit organization that, just last month, won the most important religious liberty case at the Supreme Court in recent history.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when a couple of days later some news outlets were reporting that ADF is a “hate group.”

Here are the headlines of the articles I’m referring to:

ABC News: Jeff Sessions addresses ‘anti-LGBT hate group,’ but DOJ won’t release his remarks
NBC News: Jeff Sessions Tells ‘Hate Group’ DOJ Will Issue Religious Freedom Guidance

The Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in the Trinity Lutheran case marked ADF’s seventh win in seven years at the nation’s highest court.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, homosexuality, news, religious liberty July 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Moms and Dads: Live. Laugh. Make a Memory.

I like being busy and working hard. God gave us work for our benefit. It’s meant to enrich our lives while we’re providing for our families.

But too much of a good thing ain’t so good. If you’re not careful, you can miss the joys of life along the way.

Several years ago, when my now teenage boys were just little guys, I had an encounter with Trent and Troy that has become a cherished memory.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting July 3, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Vice President Mike Pence to Speak at Focus’ 40th Anniversary Chapel Friday

As soon as we announced that Vice President Mike Pence was planning to speak at our 40th anniversary chapel this coming Friday, reporters began asking why.

Focus on the Family has had a friendly relationship with Vice President Pence, who is an outspoken Christian, for years. His commitment to families and the preborn has been evident since his early days as an Indiana state representative, during his tenure as governor of the Hoosier State – and it’s remained steadfast in the White House.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, family, policy, promos June 21, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Have a Realistic – Yet Hopeful – Outlook on Aging

Some people over fifty see the aging process as the glass being half empty.

Some see it as half full.

Then there’s the comedian I once heard who saw the glass as twice as big as it needed to be.

Stuart and Jill Briscoe use the glass analogy as a way to describe what they call their “realistic view of aging.” The top half is completely empty, and the bottom half is completely full.

Aging is an undeniable fact of life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, marriage, relationships June 8, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

One Dad’s $2 Million Sacrifice for His Daughter

Would you give up a potential $2 million payday to see your daughter graduate from high school?

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson is doing just that.

Because the opening round of the U.S. Open falls on the same day as his oldest daughter’s high school graduation, Phil has announced plans to withdraw from this year’s event.

It’s not the first time Mickelson has chosen family over work.

Back in 1999, Mickelson was competing at the U.S. Open in North Carolina just as his wife, Amy, stayed in their home back in Arizona.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, news, pop culture June 7, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Memorial Day is About Honoring the One Million

One million. It’s a big number. But on today of all days, that number takes on even greater value and significance.

That’s because today is Memorial Day, the day we remember over one million Americans who have died in war on behalf of us all.

That figure is astounding by itself. But it’s even more sobering when you reflect on this: behind every number is a name, and behind every name is a family whose entire world changed forever because that soldier didn’t come home.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, events, family May 29, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura