Family and Home Archives

This Quote from Abraham Lincoln Still is True Today

A colleague once shared with me a quote from Abraham Lincoln. It dealt with his perspective on public opinion and its impact on the direction of America, as well as the power of culture to shape politics and law:

In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.

That’s a statement that just as easily could have been uttered today.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, pop culture January 9, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Her Body is Broken; Her Soul is Not. Meet Katherine Wolf.

“It started as a normal day…”

Anytime a story begins with that line, you know it’s not going to end well. Katherine’s story begins like that.

April 21, 2008 started as a normal day. Katherine was a 26-year-old wife and new mother. She had been the picture of health. But on that fateful Monday she experienced what she describes as a “funky feeling” she couldn’t shake. Within hours, she was on her hands and knees throwing up, her body slowly going numb.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith January 6, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Do You View Your Spouse’s Differences?

Sometimes perspective is everything, isn’t it?

Take marriage as an example. It’s easy for husbands and wives to fixate on their differences, maybe because those differences can easily become the source of marital conflict.

From there, it’s only a short leap for a spouse to think that their way of doing things is better, or their thinking is superior.

It’s like a story I heard once of an English professor who wrote a simple sentence on the classroom board for his students to punctuate.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: marriage January 5, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Clearing Out Clutter Can Change Your Life

You know how it is when you move into a new home. There’s so much to do at the old house, you just throw everything into boxes and commit to sorting through it all at the new house.

That’s what Jean and I did when we moved into our current home. Once the truck was unloaded, we pulled the lid off each box and looked through every item one by one.

Keep this.

Put that over there.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family January 3, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Leaving a Legacy of Love for Your Children

Bill Butterworth had something of an awakening when his father passed away.

At the funeral, Bill stood behind the lectern as the family representative and told stories about who his father was. Bill didn’t mention his father’s stock portfolio or real estate holdings. He shared about what his father believed, about what he valued, and recounted a few of the meaningful life lessons his father had taught him.

And all the while Bill was thinking, “Someday the funeral will be mine, and one of my kids will be standing behind a lectern.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting January 2, 2017 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Reflecting the Heart of God in Your Parenting

I don’t know about you, but my wife, Jean, and I have days where our parenting doesn’t go very smoothly. Sometimes we’ll look at each other and wonder, “Is there a secret to all of this that we’re missing?”

A conversation I had with the late Dr. Karyn Purvis before she passed away reminds me of a concept that I wouldn’t exactly consider a secret, but it comes about as close as anything: Good parenting is rooted in the heart of God, which is all about connection.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting December 29, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

She Thought All Christians Were Arrogant Until …

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.

In recent generations, some in the Christian community have seen homosexuality as a bigger sin than every other and homosexuals themselves as virtually beyond redemption.

It seems to me that we too often use the sword of the Spirit to attack other human beings rather than reach out to them.

There is no sin we can name that is bigger than one drop of Christ’s blood. Salvation in Christ is available to everyone.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, friendship, relationships December 27, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

A Lighthearted Look at Wedded Bliss

Marriage is serious business …. unless you’re comedian John Branyan.

Like this astute observation: “Have you ever noticed you’ve got to get your driver’s license renewed every four years, but you don’t have to get your marriage license renewed, ever. You’d think there’d at least be some kind of eye test. You look into the little machine, ‘Alright, Mr. Branyan, can you see your socks on the floor?’”

I think Jean could get on board with an idea like that.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting December 26, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Ideal Soundtrack to Christmas Preparations

With only two shopping days left until Christmas, a lot of you are scurrying through malls today, searching for those last minute gifts. Others of you are loading up the car for a long drive or preparing to catch a flight to someplace special. Since Focus on the Family is closed today for a long holiday weekend, me and the rest of the staff aren’t in the office, so we can enjoy extra time with our families.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast December 23, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Lysa TerKeurst on Overcoming Self-Rejection

Henri Nouwen once said, “The greatest trap in life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from … self-rejection.”

Henri is right. Self-rejection is dangerous.

It usually begins as a message communicated to us by others. But over time it becomes a lie that weaves itself into our lives and infects every relationship we’re in, including our relationship with God.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith December 22, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura