parenting Archives

Reaching the World Online Through Our Digital Engagement Center

Focus on the Family’s perennial calling to help families thrive recently received a huge boost when we unveiled our “Digital Engagement Center.”

This newly constructed, state-of-the-art social media command center uses cutting-edge technology to help our family-help specialists directly reach families searching online for advice to life’s challenges. In the past, we were only able to help people who came to us for help. And while hundreds of thousands of people do come to us for help every month, we’re also very excited about being able to proactively seeking out people who may not know Focus offers this kind of support.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: faith, marriage, parenting, technology December 16, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

“Will You Marry Me, Mommy?”

It’s an innocent question many moms have heard from their young sons: “Will you marry me, Mommy?”

It’s a question that usually inspires an “aww” and maybe a hidden smile. The mom’s heart swells with gratitude. She is loved by her son.

However, that question also underscores a fact – little boys are born knowing nothing about marriage. Rather, it’s up to their moms and dads to teach them everything about that sacred institution – including what God’s plan for marriage is.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, parenting December 12, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Click Here for the Best Programs of the Year

If you’re a regular listener to our daily radio program, you know that each December we re-air some of our most popular broadcasts of the year.

Simply put, it’s the “best of the best,” and I want to share the schedule with you below, complete with links for easy access.

Wherever you are, you can catch the broadcast on the radio, online or even via our mobile app.

If you want to find out what local stations carry the Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast, you can access it at this link.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage, parenting, relationships December 10, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Give the Gift of Family this Christmas

Everything we do at Focus on the Family is made possible by friends like you – and we want you to know just how your contributions make a difference in the lives of so many.

The infographic at right details how many people – real families, marriages, children – are impacted by our resources, websites and counselors.

From marriages saved, to families strengthening their faith, to saving babies from abortion… God is doing great things through His ministry called Focus on the Family.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: marriage, parenting, pro-life December 6, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

5 Things Christians Can Learn from Adoption

I recently had the opportunity to write a piece for The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, a group dedicated to engaging the culture and speaking to issues in the public square.

The ERLC is led by Dr. Russell Moore, who recently guest blogged for me.

If you want to read my post, “Five Things Christians Can Learn from Adoption” – a piece that captures the lessons all of us at Focus have learned from our Wait No More program – you can do so by clicking here.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, faith, kids, parenting December 5, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: Boys, BB Guns and Christmas

Ralphie Parker wanted just one thing for Christmas:

“An official Red Ryder, carbine-action, two-hundred-shot, range-model air rifle.”

Fans of the perennial Yuletide favorite “A Christmas Story” know the plot like the back of their hand. Many even recite the lines from memory.

Of course, Ralphie’s quest is repeatedly met with a warning and a charge:

“You’ll shoot your eye out!”

If you ask me, the film works and has aged so well because it taps into the spirit and desires of boyhood.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting December 4, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: Troubled Boy Has a Dad-Sized Hole in His Heart

This 39-second clip demonstrates the need for engaged dads more than a thousand research papers ever could.

In 1998, the Jenny Jones Show aired an episode titled “Boot Camp my Pre-Teen” featuring a former Marine trying to shape up seemingly incorrigible boys.

The show takes an unexpected twist, however, when the drill sergeant asks a 10-year-old a question:

“Do you want me to be your daddy for the next eight years, son?”

Undoubtedly, the tough Marine thinks the idea will scare the child.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: discipline, kids, parenting December 3, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

One-Hundred-Year-Old Wisdom About Living a Joyful Life

Just a few miles to the west of the Focus campus stands one of the premier ministries in all of Christendom. There, in the shadow of the red rocks of the Garden of the Gods park is headquartered the Navigators, an international, interdenominational organization committed “to know Christ and Make Him Known.”

Jim Downing, a long-time member of the Navs and a personal friend of their founder, Dawson Trotman, continues to serve the ministry as a volunteer on the collegiate team.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting December 2, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

November, Football and Parenting

I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Today I want to share with you my November newsletter.

Thank you for your support—it’s one of the things I’m grateful for today!

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It’s November, and that means Thanksgiving and—FOOTBALL! That word might not resonate with all of you, but for many families, the act of sitting back in a recliner to watch a game on Thanksgiving afternoon is as much a tradition as the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting November 28, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

VIDEO: Share in a Daly Family Annual Tradition

This month, I’ve written about Focus on the Family’s involvement with Operation Christmas Child in two posts: How Shoeboxes Help Spread the Gospel and This Operation Christmas Child Grew Up and Paid It Forward.

Today I want to share with you how my family is personally involved with sharing our faith through this great program.

Our personal involvement is simple: We pack shoeboxes!

For some years now, we’ve been preparing boxes. We always choose gifts for boys since our sons, Trent and Troy, know exactly what to pick out for them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, parenting November 15, 2013 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura