Most newlyweds view their marriage as an empty canvas. It’s a perfectly clean, white surface where a beautiful portrait of their marriage will appear.

The reality is usually quite different. Each of us enters into marriage with color already splashed across our canvas, colors that reflect a set of expectations we may not even realize we have. The influences on our marriage begin not during the dating phase or at the wedding, but with assumptions about relationships that are formed from childhood.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage September 8, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Fire can cook you a juicy steak. Or it can burn your house to the ground. The difference lies in how well you harness the power of fire.

It’s the same with a strong will. There is a lot of good that comes from having what LeRoy and Kimberly Wagner describe as a “fierce” personality. But a strong-will gone wild can also wreak havoc.

If a woman isn’t in control of her strength, she can emasculate her husband.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 24, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

There’s a buzzword in culture that supposedly reveals the secret to a happy marriage.

“Chemistry.”

Successful relationships, we’re told, ultimately boil down to two people who naturally share common beliefs and interests, without effort.

Obviously, the more points of agreement between a husband and wife, the better. But in God’s economy, the secret to a thriving marriage isn’t in a couple’s similarities, but in how they handle their differences.

The same differences that so powerfully draw couples together when they’re courting or dating often drive them apart in marriage.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 19, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

“Mayday! Mayday!”

You recognize that distress call, don’t you? Even children have a rough idea of what it means. And the fact that they do reveals something important about effective communication.

The “mayday” distress code was designed to be simple and easy to understand. It was created in 1923 by Frederick Mockford, an airport radio officer in London, after his boss challenged him to devise a distress code that would easily be understood by pilots and ground staff in an emergency.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 13, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Today’s broadcast has me thinking a lot about one of my favorite verses in the Bible. In Romans 2:4, Paul tells us that it’s “God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.” That verse reminds me of how I ought to conduct myself toward others.

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit – an expression of God’s nature through us – and one of the most powerful tools for Christians who wish to act as the hands and feet of Jesus to the world around them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage August 3, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What’s your favorite song?

One reason it’s probably your favorite is because you enjoy hearing the vocals of the lead singer. But more than you realize, another cast of characters is just as important as the lead: the backing singers. Their chorus of voices harmonize with the lead and give the song a beauty, richness, and texture the main vocalist could never achieve alone.

What if every marriage had backing singers? Imagine a church where every follower of Jesus served as a backing singer to someone’s marriage – a chorus of voices uniting to strengthen the marriages of everyone around them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 26, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Before Bob Kraning died in April 2020, he and his wife Carol were married for over sixty years. When it comes to enjoying a happy relationship, you might say that they had a lifetime of experience.

Whenever I hear about a couple like that, I can’t help but wonder, “What’s their secret?”

Bob provides answers in a recorded message we’re airing on our Focus on the Family Broadcast called “Twenty-Five Years and Still in Love.” Bob’s and Carol’s “secrets” are actually timeless truths available to all of us.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 21, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

You thought you married the perfect person. Then, over time, you began to notice flaws. Your spouse wasn’t as kind and loving as they used to be. Now you fight with each other, you blame each other, and you never really discuss tough issues because that leads to more conflict. You wonder if you made a mistake.

What if there’s something deeper going on? Is it possible that Satan is attacking your marriage and you’re experiencing spiritual warfare?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 9, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Darrell Waltrip was one of the most successful drivers on the NASCAR circuit in the 1980s.

Together, he and his wife, Stevie, are chairpersons for Motor Racing Outreach, a Christian organization that holds chapel services for the drivers, crews, and their families. They also distribute Christian literature and offer other support for those in the NASCAR community. I appreciate the work they perform at NASCAR tracks on weekends.

I got the opportunity to speak with Darrell and Stevie on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Marriage in the Stressful World of NASCAR.” We recorded at the Darrell Waltrip Museum in front of a live audience of Focus friends right before a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage June 30, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura