Daly Focus Blog
I could have been aborted.
I was born in the ’60s prior to Roe v. Wade, but even then many people felt my mother would have been justified to abort me. She was the perfect candidate. She was 42 and in a high-risk pregnancy. My dad was an alcoholic, and I was the fifth child of a marriage that was already struggling to stay together. I was born into a household in turmoil.
I could have been aborted.
Joni Eareckson Tada says that suffering is “like a little splash-over of hell.”
Few people can talk about the intensity of suffering with more authority than Joni. A tragic accident fifty years ago left her a quadriplegic, requiring 24-hour care. She’s also survived a stage-3 breast cancer diagnosis, the removal of a 3-inch tumor, and months of chemotherapy that followed.
So when she talks about how to handle suffering in a way that enriches our lives and glorifies God, we all do well to listen.
Do you teach your children to clean their rooms?
How about to do their homework, to brush their teeth, or to match their clothes?
How about to give money, save money, and to spend it properly?
If you said no to that last one, it might be because you see your child’s allowance as simply an economic transfer instead of as a chance to develop their character.
Our guest for the next couple of programs is the money guru himself, radio host and bestselling author, Dave Ramsey.
Week Ending January 2, 2018
Openness Unhindered (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Cherish (by Gary Thomas)
The Kindness Challenge (by Shaunti Feldhahn)
Exploring the Joy of Christmas (by Phil Robertson)
Hope Rising (by Kim Meeder)
7 Women (by Eric Metaxas)
7 Men (by Eric Metaxas)
Forgive, Let Go, and Live (by Deborah Smith Pegues)
Honey, We Need to Talk (by David E. Clarke)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Your Teenager Is Not Crazy (by Dr.
I’ll never forget the day I got my driver’s license. It was all I could talk about for an entire year before. It was a time-honored tradition back then: do whatever necessary to get your license by the time you’re fifteen, no later than sixteen. That little plastic ID got me and my friends out of the house and enabled us to hang out with each other whenever and wherever we wanted. My driver’s license was key to my social world.
According to billionaire Richard Branson, the secret to making and keeping your New Year’s resolutions is a pen and piece of paper.
“It’s time to get your New Year’s resolutions down on paper,” he recently wrote. “The simple act of writing it down will help you stick to it. Share your goals with your family and friends but ultimately it’s down to you to make your resolution happen in 2018.”
Goal-setting can be very effective, but as we head off into an uncharted new year, I want to ask you a related question, but with a twist:
What if you made a commitment this year to STOP doing so many things?
Chuck Colson once said to me, “By age 10, your children’s moral compass is pretty well set.”
His wisdom confirmed what Jean and I already believed from our earliest days of parenting: we only had a few short years to impart biblical wisdom and a love for Jesus to our two boys. It’s a task that we’ve taken seriously ever since. But we also discovered early that “serious” doesn’t have to mean “dull” or “boring.”
Thankfully, there’s no magical “one way” for moms and dads to pass their faith on to their children.
Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than blindness is having sight but no vision.”
Scripture says that we lose our way without vision (Proverbs 29:18).
Vision is the ability to focus your attention on God’s plan and his ability to accomplish it. God calls each of us to a vision that is bigger than us. He invites us into things that require the best of us and that will outlive us.
What is that “thing” for you?
“…to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
A lot of us recited similar vows at our wedding, but no sooner did we walk the gauntlet of flying rice than the word “cherish” began fading from our vocabulary. We didn’t mean for it to happen. The years went by, we settled into our lives, and we woke up one day with a marriage that was missing something deeper, more satisfying.
Visible light is perceived as only one color, but shine it through a prism, and you discover it’s actually a whole rainbow.
Merry Christmas!
On today’s Focus on the Family broadcast, we’re celebrating the holiday with you in a unique way. Here’s a hint: Think long beards, duck hunting, camouflage outfits, the backwoods of Louisiana, and delicious Cajun recipes.
That’s right. On today’s broadcast, we’re exploring the joys of family and faith as we reflect on what Christmas day is all about with Phil and “Miss Kay” Robertson of the Duck Dynasty clan.
They’ll share some fun stories – like how to cook a squirrel, a scary “John the Baptist” that walked through their front door, and a Christmas fire that almost burned down their house.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
