family Archives

Question for an Astronaut?

You may remember my blog back in February detailing our family’s magnificent visit to the Kennedy Space Center and the night launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Trent and Troy (& Dad!) are still talking about it. Jean is, too, but the Daly boys are a bit more obsessed.

Thankfully, Endeavor’s 13-day mission was deemed a wild success.

It included three spacewalks and the delivery of the final module to the U.S. portion of the space station.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 30, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Please Pray for my Nephew Bobby

My 30 year-old nephew, Bobby, is dying. He has cancer. Wicked cancer. A tumor is pressing against his lungs and heart and breathing has become extremely difficult. I have had the opportunity to see him these last few days. I’ve hugged him and told him how much I loved him.

There is such sorrow and such grief. It is so difficult to watch a loved one suffer and feel helpless beyond offering comfort and prayer. I really lost it yesterday and found myself crying deep tears from places unknown.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, staff March 23, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Prayer Road

About a year ago the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to pray more often with my boys. That’s when I got the idea to start a family tradition called The Prayer Road. When Jean or I drive the boys to their charter school in the morning, we follow a road that cuts through a somewhat rural neighborhood. That’s our “prayer road.” As we drive, we intentionally don’t turn on Adventures in Odyssey, the radio, or listen to music.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting March 20, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Radio Feedback

This is a guest blog post by Gary Schneeberger, Vice President of Media and Public Relations at Focus on the Family:

Last week Jim Daly shared his journey of faith during a two-day Focus on the Family broadcast. Even though I knew the details of Jim’s story, I found myself fighting back tears all over again as he spoke. As turbulent as his childhood was—having his father abandon his family when Jim was at a young age and having lost his mother to cancer when he was seven, I am convinced those years prepared Jim for his current role ministering to today’s families.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family March 18, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hooray for Hollywood

Looking for some good news out of Hollywood?

I was encouraged to read the other day about the actor Chris O’Donnell of NCIS: Los Angeles fame.The thirty-nine-year-old actor has been married to his college sweetheart, Caroline, for the last twelve years. They have five children, ranging in age from two through ten.

Chris recently said something that I can genuinely relate to. He told a reporter: “Family is my number one priority. I can’t handle being away that long .

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, family, pop culture March 16, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hanging Out With The Family

If you were to ask what our family did this past weekend, I’d tell you the truth: We quite literally and figuratively were hanging out together at Monarch Mountain, a delightful family-friendly ski area just a couple hours southwest of Colorado Springs. “Hang” is the operative word here.

I’ll explain.

On Saturday, Jean and I took Trent and Troy up to Monarch for a day of skiing. The air was warm and the sun was shining.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, humor March 15, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Condoms for Preteens?

I just read that a condom manufacturer is marketing a new line of smaller condoms to 12-year-old boys called the “Hotshot.” Swiss condom maker Lamprecht AG decided to produce the prophylactic in response to a study by Switzerland’s Federal Commission for Children and Youth which noted a sharp increase in unprotected sex among youth. They hope the use of these kid-sized condoms will reduce teen pregnancy and the spread of STDs.

To me, the ad slogan, “It fits when passion hits,” is about as crass as is the whole idea of targeting young boys with condoms.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting March 11, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Less is More

Paul Harvey used to lament that “noise makes news”—which was a pithy way of saying that journalists are drawn to the negative and the sensational. Fortunately, there are exceptions, and I’d like to tell you about one of them.

This past Friday’s edition of the Denver Post featured an extensive story on its front page by a reporter named Electa Draper. It was entitled:

Adoption Initiative Halves Numbers of Kids Needing Families

Admittedly, I’m a bit biased about the story because it highlights the great work our team here at Focus on the Family has been doing.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, family, kids March 9, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Write a Tribute to Dr. Dobson

Jean and I were big fans of Dr. Dobson and the Focus on the Family broadcast long before I came to work at the ministry. And while we didn’t have kids at the time, I personally benefited from Dr. Dobson’s insights into marriage—especially since I came from such a dysfunctional home. Considering the fact that my father was a gambler and an alcoholic who walked out on our family when I was six, I had no idea what a “healthy” husband and wife dynamic should look like.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting, staff February 20, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Some Super Bowl Stimulus

As I recently shared with our team here at Focus on the Family, who could have imagined the amount of interest we’d receive over our Super Bowl ad with Tim and Pam Tebow?

I’ve watched in amazement as a simple expression of “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” has turned some in the media world and a few special interest groups on their heads. It’s fascinating!

One thing that has been clear to us all along has been the guiding hand of the Lord—from the spark of the idea to the firestorm of reaction, His presence has been steady and strong.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: entertainment, family, news, pop culture February 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura