marriage Archives

5 Ways to Parent More Effectively

Is your parenting style different from your spouse’s?

That’s the case in the Daly household. Generally speaking, I’m laid-back and spontaneous. When things get tense, I tend to diffuse the situation with humor. I enjoy using car rides with my boys to have spontaneous devotions.

My wife, Jean, on the other hand, likes consistency, planning ahead and routines. She appreciates the benefits of a regular, dedicated time of family devotions.

Jean and I know first-hand it can be hard work to merge two distinct parenting styles.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, marriage, parenting April 22, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Focus on the Family Amicus Brief Gives YOU a Voice at the Supreme Court

Despite the perception one might get after browsing social media, the fact remains that millions of people in the U.S. support God’s design for marriage. After all, it’s common sense to understand that marriage serves an important purpose: to bring together the two halves of humanity — male and female — to form a family.

It can be frustrating, then, when it seems that our view is drowned out in the culture. But while Hollywood, academia and the media can try their best to muffle pleas for civil discourse on how we as a nation should define marriage, thanks to an amicus brief Focus on the Family and nearly 45 pro-family groups and scholars submitted to the U.S.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, policy April 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Bless Your Spouse

What comes to mind when you think of pleasure?

How about temptation? Or sin? Or guilt?

Ever notice how the idea of pleasure so easily sends our minds spiraling toward the negative? It’s as if pleasure were a creation of Satan with no other purpose than to distract us from God.

But if we’ll think back through Scripture, we’ll arrive at a different conclusion.

Numerous passages remind us of times when God commanded His people to celebrate with lavish feasts.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, marriage April 20, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Falling in Love While Grieving a Loss

Dave Aldridge died unexpectedly just four days before Christmas in 2012. The happy husband and father of three was a strong believer who loved the Lord and poured himself into everything he did, from being a husband and father to going the extra mile for anyone who had a need. The Colorado Springs resident collapsed while running, the victim of a congenital heart defect. He was just 39 years of age.

The obituaries are full of stories of people like Dave, men and women whose lives on earth seem all too brief.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage, relationships April 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

3 Signs You Might Be Having an Emotional Affair

Marriages everywhere are at risk because of one of the most powerful drugs known to man: infatuation.

Maybe you don’t think of infatuation as a drug. But pastor and marriage expert Dave Carder, who has spent the past 30 years studying the causes of infidelity, says infatuation is as powerful as any substance out there.

Do you think that’s overstated?

Consider this: if you’ve ever known someone who walked away from their family for an affair, you probably asked yourself, “What were they thinking?” And that’s the point.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage April 14, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Develop Spiritual Oneness with Your Spouse

How to spiritually connect with your spouse may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in marriage.

Couples tend to think in terms of spiritual activities they ought to do together.

For example:

We know we should read our Bibles, pray and go to church together and memorize Scripture.

Without question, there are important spiritual disciplines, and they fit the personality of some couples especially well. These are men and women who are so structured they treat devotions almost like mini-church.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage April 9, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Reclaim Marriage

This month’s issue of First Things magazine features a powerful argument for upholding and proclaiming the truth and beauty of God’s design for marriage.

“The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage” is a product of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a group founded 20 years ago by one of my heroes, the late Chuck Colson, and another highly regarded statesman of the faith, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.

Several prominent Evangelical and Catholic leaders have endorsed the statement.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, policy March 26, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

You Can Learn This From the Bible’s Couples

When you walked down the aisle, what was your vision for you and your spouse? Did you want a “nice” marriage? A “friendly” marriage? A “we get along” marriage?

Probably not.

Most couples are searching for intimacy, connection, romance, and excitement. But years into their marriage, many husbands and wives are bored. Life has settled into a routine – a rut, really – and they’re not connecting like they once did.

If you’ve reached that place in your marriage, you might be thinking, “This isn’t what I had in mind.”

Well, that’s not what the Bible says God has in mind for you, either.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, husband, marriage, wife March 19, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Stunning Violation in San Francisco

A news roundup on the issues that matter most.

– The Wall St. Journal’s “A Fight to Keep Catholic Schools Catholic” explains how California lawmakers are trying to prevent San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from hiring faculty that would advance Catholic teaching in area high schools.

Just imagine: Catholic schools teaching Catholic doctrine? The effort to coerce school officials into violating their convictions is a stunning assault on a religious school’s constitutional freedom.

– Planet Fitness Revokes Woman’s Membership After She Complained About Transgender Person.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, news, religious liberty, technology March 9, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is It Ever Too Late to Save a Marriage?

Naturally, with a name like “Focus on the Family,” our organization places a strong emphasis on building thriving marriages. An “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as they say. The best course of action is always to take steps to head off problems before they start.

But for many couples, helpful suggestions and well-meaning nudges to “be proactive” are already too late. The relationship has dried up. One or both spouses feel like the love is gone.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, marriage, promos March 6, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura