Family and Home Archives

Why Country Singer Jimmy Wayne “Speaks Up for the Kids”

“I dreamt many times of making it and getting in front of a crowd and playing music.”

That’s a lofty vision for any kid who’s alone with a guitar and dreaming his empty bedroom will someday become an audience of thousands. But country singer and songwriter Jimmy Wayne still believed.

That was no small accomplishment given his tumultuous childhood, which didn’t exactly teach him life was filled with possibilities.

His mother was bipolar and wasn’t receiving proper treatment, so Jimmy never knew what her behavior might be on any given day.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: adoption, broadcast, faith November 1, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Foundation to a Fulfilling Marriage

My marriage enjoyed a significant boost a couple of summers ago on a family vacation to Glacier National Park in Montana.

Jean, the boys, and I hiked to a place called Hidden Lake but were stopped several hundred yards away. It was spawning season for the trout, and the bears were especially active. Still, from where we were, we could see the bears splashing through the water hunting for fish.

I should say my boys and I could see them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage October 31, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are You Worried Your Spouse Isn’t Your Soul Mate?

Are you worried your spouse isn’t your soul mate?

Well, let me encourage you with this: soul mates aren’t found, they’re formed over time.

Juana Mikels and her husband, Terry, are proof of that. College sweethearts, they walked down the aisle believing the planets had surely aligned in order for them to find each other. But just two years into their marriage, the planets had all but fallen out of their orbits.

Juana was convinced she had married the wrong person.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage October 25, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

This is a Parent’s Primary Task

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, once asked his fans to describe their job in a single sentence. Here are some of the responses he got:

“Look out the window all day” – Pilot.

“Get paid for answers companies already know to questions they never asked” – Consultant.

And my personal favorite: “Read things that don’t matter then write papers saying they do in order to get a job doing something totally unrelated” – Student.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting October 21, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Lacey Sturm Shares How God Saved Her from Suicide

“I didn’t believe in God anymore. I felt like people were offering me a broken chair to sit in.”

That devastating lie, and others, were sown deep in Lacey Sturm’s heart early in life, and it nearly drove her to commit suicide.

She was 10 years old when her 3-year-old cousin was beaten to death by his stepdad. Any assurance that God noticed Lacey or cared about her at all died that day, too.

“Where is God?” she wondered.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith October 20, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to See More Deeply into Your Spouse’s Heart

Picture yourself in an antique store.

You’re standing before an old chair, its wood dinged up and the varnish dirty and worn. At first, you have trouble seeing past the grime and scratches to appreciate its craftsmanship.

But what if, just as you turn to leave the store, you discovered the chair belonged to Abraham Lincoln? Suddenly, instead of a banged up old relic, you’re looking at a piece of history.

What happened? The chair didn’t change.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage October 18, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Five Ways Singles Can Honor Marriage (Guest Post)

As a single person, sometimes I look around and wonder what happened to marriage.

In my Millennial demographic, it seems like more people are choosing to live together or hookup with someone on Tinder than choosing to tie the knot.

The studies show that there’s a growing pool of young single adults who seem to have little drive to marry. A recent Pew Research study found that most Millennials won’t marry until at least age 27, and 25 percent will never marry at all.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage October 17, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Caring for Elderly Parents with Grace and Honor

The first indication something was wrong with Jane’s father was after a situation she now calls the “splintering incident.”

He was 87 years old and had driven into the side of the garage. “His foot slipped off the brake,” her mother told her.

Jane and her husband Mike laughed it off. “After all,” they thought, “that kind of thing happens, right?” Only, the same thing happened just a couple of weeks later.

That was the beginning of a long season of tough decisions and rollercoaster emotions for Jane and her husband, Mike.

Topics: Family and Home October 14, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Understand the Language Your Spouse Is Speaking

Don’t you love to hear your spouse lean over and whisper in your ear, “Nakupenda na wanataka kutumia muda zaidi na wewe”?

Unless you speak fluent Swahili, you wouldn’t recognize your spouse’s “sweet nothings” as, “I love you and want to spend more time with you.”

I’m guessing Swahili isn’t what’s complicating your marriage, but it illustrates why so many husbands and wives feel misunderstood by one another. They are – in essence – speaking different languages.

Topics: Family and Home October 13, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Helping Your Child Deal with Bullies

Daniel was 13 years old when he wrote that he had a “great life.” Just a few weeks later, he was dead.

According to his letter, Daniel’s “great life” spiraled out of control right after he started junior high. Five classmates had bullied him incessantly. And when Daniel tried to defend himself, fights broke out.

Daniel wrote that he had “begged and pleaded” with his teachers and the school’s principal to intervene, but they “didn’t do ANYTHING!”

The school denied any wrongdoing, but the bullying didn’t stop until … sadly … Daniel ended his own life.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, kids, parenting October 11, 2016 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura