marriage Archives

Your Family Live!

I’m thrilled to announce that last Wednesday Focus on the Family launched Your Family Live! If you missed it, don’t worry. This is a web-based TV program airing live each week, Wednesdays 2-3pm EST. Co-hosted by Dr. Juli Slattery and Yvette Maher, Your Family Live! is especially dedicated to the topics of marriage and parenting.

The debut program featured special guests Jill Savage, Blog Mom Jennifer “McKMama” McKinney, Tammy Maltby and Toby Mac.

I believe you’ll find this hour-long dialogue to be a source of insight and hope—not to mention filled with fun and encouragement!

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage, parenting, promos April 5, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Brouhaha in Boulder: A Tough Witness

The Breakpoint commentary by Chuck Colson last Friday was exceptional. I thought you’d appreciate his compassionate yet biblically-based perspective in the following transcript:

Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Boulder, Colorado, recently informed the parents of two students that their children wouldn’t be re-admitted for next fall’s term. Normally, that would be a matter between the parents and the school and not the stuff of national news. But not this time. That’s because the parents in question are a lesbian couple.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, homosexuality, marriage March 22, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Ultimate Valentine Gift

If you’re familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, you know Calvin is a young boy with a hyperactive imagination. Most of the time we see Calvin conversing with Hobbes—a stuffed tiger who comes to life within Calvin’s head. Together, the duo typically investigates the meaning of life.

In one scene, Calvin asks Hobbes what it’s like to fall in love. Keep in mind Calvin is about six-years-old which is why he’s seeking the wisdom from his older, imaginary friend.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, marriage, promos February 12, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Turning the Tables on Me

Dr. Kevin Leman, psychologist and author of Have a New Husband by Friday, has been our guest for several days on the Focus on the Family broadcast this week. I really appreciate Dr. Leman. Although, boy, did he do a number on me during yesterday’s program! After spending two broadcasts giving marital advice to wives, he ambushed me right there in the studio.

Let me set the stage for what happened.

Dr. Leman began by explaining that the average marriage lasts just seven years.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage January 29, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

I Want My Marriage to Thrive

When I was a teenager, I remember sitting in world history class dreaming of football when the teacher started talking about a weather condition known as “the doldrums.” The doldrums occur when the prevailing winds stop blowing and a extended calm settles upon the open sea—which is a serious problem if you’re a sailor relying upon wind power to get you to where you’re going.

Thousands of years ago, European sailors on a quest to reach new lands would sometimes encounter the doldrums during a voyage across the equatorial region of the Atlantic ocean.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, marriage, promos December 15, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Sign the Manhattan Declaration?

It’s been several short weeks since the unveiling of the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, which initially had about 120 co-signers. I’m thrilled to report more than 275,500 have added their signature to this important document. If you’re unfamiliar with the Manhattan Declaration, let me encourage you to read the entire proclamation and then consider lending your support, too.

In short the Manhattan Declaration is both a celebration of, and a commitment to, preserving life, marriage, and religious liberty in America.

Topics: Current Events Tags: marriage, policy, religious liberty December 9, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tiger Woods

A little more than a week removed from his now-infamous one-car crash on Thanksgiving night, golf legend Tiger Woods remains front page news, but for all the wrong and sad reasons.

Like most of you, I’m not one to follow the latest Hollywood gossip or eagerly peel through the pages of People Magazine. But it’s hard to miss hearing about the sordid details and accusations surrounding the alleged infidelity of the golfing great. Earlier this week, in an attempt to quell the rumors, Tiger released a statement acknowledging personal “transgressions” but didn’t elaborate and pleaded for privacy.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, marriage, pop culture December 7, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Great Vin Scully

Although football has always been my passion, I also love the game of baseball. The late Bart Giamatti, Major League baseball’s former commissioner and a clear romantic of the sport, did too. He once lamented the end of the season in near-poetic terms. Here is what he wrote:

It [baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: divorce, faith, marriage November 13, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Top 5 Ingredients of a Great Marriage

Ask a hundred people, “How do you make a great banana split?” and they’d probably list the same core ingredients—vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream nestled between the two halves of a banana, drizzled with chocolate syrup, crushed pineapple, whipped cream and topped off with one or more maraschino cherries. Depending on personal preference, some might lobby for a few spoons of wet walnut topping.

Ask a hundred people who loved to cook, “How do you make a great Alfredo sauce?” and I imagine their recipes would easily be boiled down to four or five core ingredients—sweet butter, heavy cream, shredded parmesan cheese, and a pinch of white pepper and garlic salt.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: husband, marriage, wife October 12, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Considering the Case for Early Marriage

Dr. Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas, published an interesting and provocative essay in the August edition of Christianity Today entitled, “The Case for Early Marriage.” It’s a thoughtful and challenging piece of work that’s likely to raise the ire on all sides of the ideological and theological spectrum within Christendom. Back in April, Dr. Regnerus lit up the secular blogosphere when he penned a similar column in the online edition of the Washington Post.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage July 29, 2009 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura