parenting Archives - Page 3 of 60

How to Teach Your Kids About God

Note: This article by Focus on the Family President Jim Daly appears in full on Fox News.

Once upon a time, the vast majority of Americans were affiliated with a particular faith community or tradition: Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Jewish, for example.

In recent years, though, secularism has been growing and a new wave of either atheism or agnosticism is rolling across the country. It may be true that a degree of “unbelief” has always existed, but with rising rates of people unaffiliated with any church or faith at all, the likelihood of interacting and being influenced by a person who believes in a higher power is similarly depressed.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, faith, parenting February 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Embracing Your Imperfections as a Parent

A + B = C.

For some of you, that’s basic Algebra.

For some of you, that’s an approach to parenting.

You see raising children as a formula. If you apply the right ideas in just the right ways, you believe you’ll get the right outcome. Every time! Your goal isn’t to be a good parent, or even a great one. Your goal is to be perfect.

On the surface, perfection appears to be an admirable goal.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting February 13, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Rocking Your Grandparenting Years

One writer called grandparenting “the greatest job on earth, handed to you wrapped in a blanket.”

Friends and colleagues of mine who are grandparents tell me it’s a blast.

But they also tell me grandparenting can be a challenge.

Like, how do you stay connected when you live far away from your adult children and grandchildren?

Or how do you maintain a healthy relationship with your adult children? This is a new season of life for both of you.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting, relationships January 29, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Answering Your Kids’ Tough Faith Questions

Would you know how to answer these questions if a co-worker or a neighbor asked them?

Do all religions point to the same truth?If Christianity is the only true religion, why are there so many denominations?Why did Jesus die for our sins?

Would you know how to answer your children if they asked those questions? Answering in ways children can understand isn’t always easy.

You may feel like author Natasha Crain when she gave her four-year-old son his first swimming lesson.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, parenting January 13, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Being a ‘Yes’ Parent in a World of No’s

The most popular word in the average parent’s vocabulary is “no.”

To be fair, it’s an important word for moms and dads. Used properly, it creates healthy boundaries for children.

But it’s easy to over-do our “no’s.” We can be too protective. Remember Dory, the fish with short-term memory loss from the animated hit movie Finding Nemo? She reminded Marlin, the dad of mis-adventurous Nemo, “You can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him.”

If we build too many fences, we’re not allowing our kids to be kids or to grow.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting January 9, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Homemade Meals for Busy Families

The holidays are over, and you’re probably running at high speed in a lot of directions.

The end of the workday doesn’t mean your work is over. Somebody has to pick up the kids from soccer practice and run to the store for groceries. After that, you still have to get home and make dinner, which can take a couple of hours once you cook, eat, and clean up the mess.

Who’s got time for that?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting January 2, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Raise Strong Believers

If God is good, why does He allow evil to exist?

Maybe your kids have asked you that to see how you answer. Have you ever asked your kids that question to see how they answer?

Or how about these?

Where did the universe come from?Do science and religion contradict each other?Do all religions worship the same God?How do we know God hears and answers prayer?

Natasha Crain didn’t know how to answer such important questions.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 26, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Trusting God with Your Adult Child

I know of a couple whose daughter disappeared from home in a fit of rebellion on her 18th birthday. Her parents were devastated. For years, they didn’t know if she was alive or dead.

Early on, her mother made a simple decision. Every night – all night – she would turn on the porch light. It was an unspoken message to her daughter: “You’re always welcome home.”

Many nights, tears streamed down that mother’s face as she locked the front door, switched on the light, and prayed for her daughter.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 23, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Motivating Your Kids to Reflect the Character of God

Teaching character to children and motivating them to embrace change can be a challenge.

Dr. Kathy Koch says strengthening your relationship with your child is key to helping him or her to feel known and understood and to intentionally impart character qualities like resilience, humility, self-respect, respect for others, and self-control.

First, you model those qualities yourself. Then, you guide your children to interact with life in the same way. Communicating as a teacher, a coach, a cheerleader, and a referee, parents can address five core needs of a child:

Security – Who can I trust?Identity – Who am I?Belonging – Who wants me?Purpose – Why am I alive?Competence – What do I do well?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, children, parenting December 9, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Your Daughter Become a Confident Woman

I saw a video that powerfully illustrates the incredible influence that fathers have in the lives of their daughters. It captured a dad in his living room, watching a basketball game. He jumped and yelled in support of his favorite team.

Right beside him, his three-year-old daughter copied his every move. She jumped when he jumped. She clapped when he clapped. She even copied his expressions of excitement.

Then the mood changed. The dad started shouting at the television.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, father, parenting December 5, 2019 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura