Family and Home Archives

How to Understand Your Personality Type

Imagine if you put lions, otters, beavers, and a few golden retrievers all in the same room. What do you think would happen?

Talk about crazy. It’d be like Wild Kingdom in there.

There’s no surprise why. They’re nothing alike. They each approach the world through their own unique perspective and don’t see eye-to-eye on much of anything.

By this point, if you’re not familiar with the concept or the terminology, I should tell you that the scenario I just described isn’t an actual zoo (although it can sure feel like one some days).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, relationships August 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are Household Chores Getting You Down?

I recall an informal poll I saw once that showed how many people thought the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” was in the Bible. I don’t remember the exact percentage, but it was the vast majority, something like 80 percent.

For the record, it’s not in Scripture. But the fact that so many people think it is reveals a deeper issue, I think.

There are a lot of expectations placed on Christian women today to keep a household running smoothly.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage, parenting August 13, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Guest Blog: Why Homeschooling Was a Great Option For My Family

I have, in my house, a rising Tiger. Our second born, Seth, begins his college career at Clemson this fall. He has always been, and remains, an amazing young man.

He is filled with both passion and compassion, he loves learning, reads voraciously, is strong as a bear and is an outstanding musician. He makes our parental hearts swell with love and pride. Oh, and for the record, he looks like me and is thus incredibly handsome.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting August 11, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Prepare for Middle School

If you’re the parent of a middle schooler, I have a suggestion for you: buckle up.

This may be the most tumultuous time in childhood.

It’s like a prism that focuses a remarkable amount of life change into a short time span. Our two boys are smack in the center of their middle school years, so we’re witnessing it firsthand.

The physical, mental, and hormonal changes alone are intense. But many kids also face the added stress of leaving behind elementary school and entering a larger environment with more classes, new friends to meet, and more responsibility to bear.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting August 10, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Is Modern Dating so Confusing for Christians?

What’s the worst date you’ve ever had?

Our own Lisa Anderson, who spearheads Boundless, Focus on the Family’s ministry to singles, has had some doozies. One guy showed up to their second date with a full PowerPoint presentation for how their relationship ought to move forward, complete with pivot tables and algorithms.

Experiences like that are just one reason many singles express so much confusion and frustration about the dating process and their hopes for marriage.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, relationships August 3, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

H.A.P.P.Y. Wife, Happy Life

Do you have a goal for your marriage?

Hopefully, your answer is a little more inspiring than, “To stay married.”

Sadly, that’s about as enthusiastic as many couples get about their relationship. They haven’t discovered a greater purpose for their lives together. And let’s face it, it’s hard to find happiness with your spouse if life has become an endless string of mundane days.

Wives, in particular, usually feel happier if they know their relationship is growing deeper, more intimate, and more romantic.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage July 31, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Teaching Your Teen to be a Movie Critic

Parents of older children often get bombarded with requests to watch the latest movie popular among their friends. But for those moms and dads who are hoping to instill Christian values in their kids, these common requests pose a real dilemma: how can we equip our children to be in the world, but not part of it? How can we teach them to take in entertainment through discerning eyes and not as a “blind consumer”?

One mom found a way.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: entertainment, family, parenting July 28, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are You Struggling in Life?

“Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.” – Oswald Chambers

Elisa Morgan will never forget the day she heard a loud crash from somewhere in her house. The noise, she discovered, was a three-shelf hutch that had fallen from the wall, taking her late grandmother’s antique china collection with it. It all lay shattered in pieces on the floor … and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith July 27, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Avoid the Common Mistakes of Parenting

Some days I feel like a pretty good dad, like I really understand my boys, and I have a good handle on this parenting thing. Then there are the other days …

Years ago, when my oldest son, Trent, was 3 or 4, he would go bananas when I tried to wash his hair in the tub. No matter how gentle I was, he’d cry and say, “Why, Daddy?”

At first, I thought his complaining was normal.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, parenting July 23, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

What to Do When Your Spouse Wants a Divorce

Here at Focus on the Family, we routinely receive heartbreaking messages like this one: “My spouse just told me he or she doesn’t love me, and we shouldn’t stay married. What can I do?”

If your marriage has encountered a similar problem, you may have the same question. The answer, according to counselor and author Dr. David Clarke, is to implement an aggressive strategy of “tough love” as soon as possible.

That means you have to show strength and take decisive action.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, marriage July 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura