Family and Home Archives

Sadie Robertson: “Be confident in who God is through you.”

If you haven’t already heard, in just a few days, Focus on the Family is officially re-launching Brio Magazine, our publication for teen girls. It’s a positive, godly alternative to most of the influences out there today for teenage girls.

Our “Brio girl” for the inaugural issue is Sadie Robertson. Many of you know her from the A&E reality show Duck Dynasty and from Dancing with the Stars a few seasons ago.

She’s just 19, but she’s an impressive young lady, and we’ve asked her to join us in the studio today to share how she is fearlessly living out her faith and using her public platform to be an excellent role model for girls.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment, faith, kids, pop culture April 28, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman: Between Heaven and the Real World

I hope you’ll join us for our radio program tomorrow and Thursday when we’ll be talking to Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, about their journey with God and each other.

Through an award-winning career in music and the ups and downs of real life, Steven and Mary Beth say they feel “between heaven and the real world.” That phrase has become something of a caption to their lives. Pointing out God’s grace in the midst of a very troubled world is what Steven has tried to accomplish throughout his music career.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment, faith, marriage April 25, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Managing Your Emotions During Stressful Moments

Just a few wayward sparks. That’s all it takes to start a fire capable of burning through an entire city.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 is proof of that. It is one of the largest disasters in American history. According to popular accounts from the time, Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in a humble barn on DeKoven Street. What started as a small fire grew into an inferno that destroyed miles of homes and razed Chicago’s business district.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, relationships April 24, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Powerful Influence of a Grandparent

I never knew my grandparents, but family friends – Mr. and Mrs. Hope – became something like surrogate grandparents to me. They led my mother to the Lord, and treated her, my siblings, and me as part of their family.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are visiting with “Grandpa Hope,” as we called him. He would sit in a big recliner in his garden atrium, play checkers with us kids and – like any good grandfather – lose on purpose often enough to build our self-confidence.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family April 20, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Finding Hope and Healing after Sexual Assault

Many women who have been sexually assaulted endure a similar struggle: “God, where were you?”

That’s a gut-wrenching question with no easy answers, but it deserves a heart-felt response. Few people can offer hope and healing in the wake of sexual assault better than our guests on today’s and tomorrow’s programs, Leila Sommerfield and Kathleen Terrill.

They understand sexual assault as only survivors can, and they’ll be sharing exactly where they believe God was in the midst of some of their deepest suffering.

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

Chonda Pierce: Laughing in the Dark

Humorist Erma Bombeck once said, “There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain.”

Chonda Pierce has been tip-toeing that line for a long time. She’s been doing stand-up comedy for 25 years and is the top-selling female comic in history. She has a unique ability to describe life’s most challenging moments all while making you laugh out loud with her humor.

Focus on the Family was privileged to have Chonda as a guest speaker at a recent chapel service here at the ministry.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, entertainment, faith April 17, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reflections on the Last Supper

Today is Maundy Thursday, the date marking the end of Lent and the beginning of the Easter Triduum—the three-day period leading up to Easter Sunday. The term “Maundy” stems from the Latin word “mandatum”—which means “commandment” and alludes to Jesus’ words as recorded in the 13th chapter of John’s Gospel: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

When you think about it, this is the essence of who Jesus is and why He came to earth, isn’t it?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith April 13, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Deeper Meaning of Easter

Tomorrow is Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. Those holidays don’t mean much for a lot of families. It’s just another routine Friday followed by a warm spring day where kids get all the candy they want and hunt for colorful eggs.

There’s a deeper significance to those days that many people overlook. I remember years ago, back when video stores were still around. My wife and I went looking for a well-known film that told the story of Easter.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, events, faith April 13, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God’s ‘Blessings’ in Laura Story’s Marriage

Laura Story and her husband Martin Elvington have often told people that their marriage went from the honeymoon straight to the E.R.! That wasn’t just a metaphor.

Barely two years into their lives together, they thought the world was open to them. They could do anything they wanted to do, and they were happily anticipating all that God may have had in store.

Within a few months of a big move to Atlanta for Martin to attend grad school, he began experiencing physical symptoms that went undiagnosed for nearly a year.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage April 11, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

He Minimized His ‘Stuff’ and Maximized His Life

“How much is enough?”

Somebody asked John D. Rockefeller that once. His answer?

“Just a little bit more.”

I wonder if most of us secretly agree with him. We try to be content, but it’s hard with so many shiny things to choose from and advertisers convincing us of needs we didn’t know we even had. We’re easily lulled into believing that we could be happy if we had just a little bit more.

But how much is enough?

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family April 10, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura