parenting Archives

Mothers and Sons: Being a Godly Influence

Jesus’ mother was Mary.

The prophet Samuel’s mother was Hannah.

King David’s mother?

The Bible doesn’t tell us. But she must have had tremendous insight into how to raise a boy to become man. Everyone remembers David for conquering Goliath. Yet, his strength and trust in the Lord were developed as a teenager in the field:

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting, sons February 25, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Building a Lifelong Relationship with Your Child

Do you feel like a failure as a parent?

At Focus on the Family, we hear from thousands of parents who do.

Formulaic parenting is a common reason for this. It’s the go-to method for a lot of moms and dads. They believe that parenting ought to be predictable. The right input should guarantee the right outcome. When it doesn’t, they wonder, “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with my child?”

A better approach is something called “trust-based relational parenting,” an idea that many say has revolutionized their parenting.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting February 19, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Nurturing Your Child’s Purpose and Passion

Let me tell you about a boy named Tom. At an early age, he developed a hearing problem, which caused him a lot of trouble at school. He was easily distracted. He frustrated his teachers by disrupting the class and steering the conversation in random directions. His teachers considered him “stupid, restless, and a slow learner who asked too many questions.” Tom’s public education was a complete failure.

If that were your child, how would you react?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting February 5, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Understanding Your Child’s Love Style

Have you ever tried to push a fully inflated beach ball under the water?

You can only hold it beneath the surface for so long. Sooner or later, your strength will give out, and the ball will pop back up.

It’s a lot like parenting.

To explain how, we’ve invited Milan and Kay Yerkovich back to our microphones to discuss how to develop a deeper connection with your children by understanding their love styles.

Milan and Kay explain the coping mechanisms we develop in childhood to avoid relational pain.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: parenting February 1, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Created by God for a Purpose

Have you ever wished you could change something about yourself? I’m sure we all have. We wish we were taller or shorter, that we had curly hair or straight, or that we could throw a ball or play an instrument like someone else.

It’s not unusual to wish for strength in areas where you’re weak, or talent where you’re not gifted. But it’s a short leap from that common desire to losing sight of the purpose for which God created you.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting January 14, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Positive Words Can Change Your Life

My wife, Jean, is a living embodiment of Proverbs 16:24: “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Every time I call her on the phone, she answers with a positive tone that lets me know she’s glad to hear from me. Her voice is a moment of respite for me in what can often be a busy and stressful schedule.

Positive words bless people, but it’s not always easy to speak them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, family, parenting January 11, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Simple Ways to Love Your Daughter or Son

My wife Jean and I have raised two boys, Trent and Troy. Throughout their childhoods, I was able to enjoy a lot of father/son time with them. Just the three of us. Baseball games. Football games. Camping. Fishing.

Looking back on it, the one thing I would change is that I would have done more with each of them individually, to invest one on one time with them. Individual quality time is a great way to show a child love.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting January 5, 2021 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Parenting the Heart of Your Teen

You can learn a lot from your kids’ report cards. Letter grades may not tell the whole story behind your child’s education, but they do give a sense of where your children are struggling in school and where they’re doing well.

Years ago, I started using the same idea to help me better connect with my two boys. Every few months, I’d ask, “How well do you feel I listen to you when you have a problem to share?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: children, parenting December 31, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Practical Advice for Parenting Strong-Willed Children

Jean and I have a strong-willed boy. Over the years, we’ve joked that we were raising a lawyer-in-training. He could find a loophole in anything.

Once, Jean hosted a women’s tea and set out chocolates in the living room. She later discovered half the bowl was gone. When she asked him if he’d eaten all the chocolates, our son responded, “No,” without hesitation.

“You didn’t eat the chocolates?”

“Oh, I ate some of them. But you asked if I had eaten all of them.”

If you’ve got a strong-willed child, you’ve probably encountered situations like that.

Topics: Uncategorized Tags: children, parenting November 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hope and Help for Weary Moms

Mom, are you tired?

Research says that you are. Studies show that the average mom changes over 2,000 diapers a year, does almost 200 loads of laundry, and loses almost 900 hours of sleep! And many moms work outside of the home as well!

Motherhood can be exhausting. Moms give, give, and give some more. Especially when the boys were young, my wife Jean often felt like no one saw or appreciated everything she did each day.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, hope, mom, mother, parenting October 19, 2020 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura