Family and Home Archives

How to Stay in Love after 25 Years of Marriage

When it comes to marriage, Bob Kraning and his wife, Carol, have got the experience that counts. In May, they celebrated 60 years as husband and wife.

Whenever I hear about a couple like that, I can’t help but wonder, “What’s their secret?”

Bob provides some of the answers in a recorded message called “Twenty-Five Years and Still in Love.” Their “secrets” are actually timeless truths available to all of us. That’s why this program has been a blessing to countless marriages for the nearly 30 years we’ve been airing it.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage September 18, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reasons to Save Your Marriage After an Affair

The problem with life moving so fast is you never see the cracks starting to form.

That’s what Bob and Audrey discovered. They met in Bible college. They were passionate about their faith and each other and wanted to change the world together. They got married, and within a few years had three kids, were active in a national ministry, and began pastoring a thriving church. They attended marriage conferences and read books together. They were highly visible and well-known in their community.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage September 14, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Benjamin Watson Shares What Dads Should Expect When Their Wives Are Expecting

When my first child Trent was born 17 years ago I knew two things right away:

I loved him desperately.
I didn’t know how to be a dad.

I doubt I was much different than most guys. There’s a lot about fathering that men have to learn as they go. But every new dad and soon-to-be new dad could benefit from a playbook. We’ve got just the thing for you on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Helping Men Prepare for Fatherhood.”

We’re talking to Benjamin Watson about his book “The New Dad’s Playbook: Gearing Up for the Biggest Game of Your Life.” If you and your wife are expecting, you’re going to want to hear this program.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting September 12, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Raising Boys Who Become True Men

“My coach from my senior year could look at me and knight me with his eyes.”

That powerful comment illustrates the hunger of every boy to have a man, particularly a father, draw him into manhood. It comes from Dr. Robert Lewis, who has been associated with Focus on the Family for years. Back in the late 90s, he wrote a book with Focus called “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Since then, it’s been our number one best seller.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting September 7, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Opioid Crisis Prompts Ohio to Seek More Foster Parents

Officials say that Ohio’s problem with heroin is reaching epidemic proportions. Ohio has the nation’s highest rate of deadly heroin overdoses, killing at least 23 people in the state each week by some estimates.

And as so often occurs when it comes to drug abuse, children are among those who suffer the most.

About half of all the kids in Ohio’s foster care system are there because one or both of their parents are drug addicts – and some counties report a rate of over 80 percent.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, kids, parenting, pro-life September 6, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Jesus Through the Eyes of a Fisherwoman

“What would Jesus do?”

Remember that pop-culture phenomenon from a few years back? Lots of people wore “WWJD?” bracelets and T-shirts or slapped a sticker on their car bumper.

It’s too bad that such a deep and meaningful question has become better identified with trinkets and deprecating parody than with life-changing self-reflection.

We’ve sanitized the gospels.

To answer what Jesus would do requires a closer examination of the life He led and the gritty world in which He lived.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith September 5, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Five Cs to Discovering God’s Purpose for Your Life

Do you know your “why”?

God’s purpose for your spiritual journey, for your work, and for your family starts with your “why.”

People ask, “How will I serve God? Where will I serve God? When will I serve God?” Unless you tackle the “why” question, everything else becomes a mountain that prevents you from moving forward – your finances, your background, your education, your training, your age, and so on. If you know your why, those mountains somehow don’t appear as big or as insurmountable.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith September 4, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Never Mind Your “To-Do List.” Battle Busyness with a “Stop-Doing” List

For many of us, busyness is like a badge of honor. We take pride in running from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning to the moment our heads hit the pillow at night.

But busyness can also be a tool of the enemy. It distracts us from what really matters in life. We can’t do it all. Sooner or later, something has to give.

Recent surveys detail what people say they’re sacrificing to their busyness:

56 percent lost sleep
52 percent cut back on recreation
51 percent quit hobbies
44 percent spent less time with friends
34 percent sacrificed time with their families

The secular survey didn’t ask about faith, but time with the Lord is often one of the first things to go when we’re too busy.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, relationships September 1, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How a Drug Dealer Found God on the Streets of New York City

Dimas Salaberrios grew up in Queens, New York. By age 10, he had discovered the seedy underbelly of the city ruled by gangs and drugs and had mapped out his future.

He wanted to become the “Street God.”

He became a drug dealer at age 11. By his early twenties, he’d been arrested nine times, but never served time in jail. His father knew a lot of judges, and his mother had the money to protect Dimas with well-paid lawyers.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith August 31, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Celebrating 500 Episodes of The Boundless Show

This week we’re celebrating the 500th episode of The Boundless Show, a national radio program and podcast hosted by Lisa Anderson, who also serves as the director of young adult outreach here at Focus.

If you’ve never listened to an episode of Boundless, let me fill you in.

The show is fun and feisty, and usually features a lot of laughter thanks to Lisa’s unique take on pop culture and tell-it-like-it-is style.

But more than anything, The Boundless Show is also ministry.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, relationships August 29, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura