Jim Daly

How to Respond When Your Child Notices Magazine Covers at the Supermarket

The “sex sells” mantra is obvious at the grocery checkout line where magazine covers featuring sexually provocative images are displayed eye-level to impressionable children.

What’s a parent to do?

That was the dilemma Joann Condie recently faced. A registered nurse and licensed professional counselor with Focus on the Family’s counseling department, Joann was at the supermarket with her elementary school-aged grandson and his friend. As the cashier rang up their groceries, Joann noticed the boys looking at the scantily clad brunette on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: parenting, pop culture

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting

Confessions of an Idolater

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Maybe you notice a wrinkle you’re convinced wasn’t there yesterday, or you wonder if you’ve put on a few extra pounds since the last time you really looked.

Or … maybe you don’t see any of those things.

Somehow we learn how to look at our reflections without seeing the things we don’t like about ourselves, don’t we?

But our selective blindness doesn’t end there.

We often don’t pause and examine our lives long enough to see our own negative behavior.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith

Are Pro-Lifers the Abolitionists of Today?

Although Monday’s vote in the United States Senate to defund Planned Parenthood fell seven votes short of the necessary 60 to move forward with cloture, pro-life leaders are vowing the fight has only just begun.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Although tremendously disappointing, Monday’s vote marked the first time since the partial-birth abortion debates of the late 1990s and early 2000s that we’ve had an open debate on the Senate floor about what happens during abortion.

I want to applaud strong pro-life women like Iowa’s Sen.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, policy, pro-life

UPDATE: Focus on the Family Builds Houses for Families of the Egyptian Martyrs

I wanted to give you an update on the houses Focus on the Family has been building for the families of the 20 Egyptian martyrs killed earlier this year by ISIS terrorists.

As you’ll remember, these men, all in their twenties, had been in Libya in search of work. They were attempting to provide for their impoverished families living in Egypt when they were taken hostage and beheaded because of their Christian faith. Immediately following the tragedy, Sami Yacoub, the regional director for Focus on the Family’s Middle East outreach based in Egypt, reached out to their grieving family members.

Continue ReadingTopics: Focus Events Tags: church, faith, news, pro-life, religious liberty

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, relationships

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.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, marriage

Guest Post: Help Defund Planned Parenthood By Doing This

How did Planned Parenthood become a billion-dollar-a-year non-profit?

Why did U.S. taxpayers provide $528 million in grants and reimbursements to the organization in 2014 alone?

The answer is partly because Planned Parenthood is very good at marketing its products.

For instance, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards recently posted a meme to her Facebook page touting the services the group provides. The meme enumerated the number of pap tests, breast exams and STI tests conducted by the organization.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, policy, pro-life

How Does Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Impact Our Schools?

We’re about to enter the first school year after the Supreme Court’s sweeping redefinition of marriage, a decision that will deeply impact our children’s schools and education. Today I want to share a Q&A with Focus on the Family’s Education Analyst, Candi Cushman, where she’ll help explain how the legalization of same-sex marriage will affect the way we educate our children. –JD

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Q. Give us the big picture: How will this court decision change the environment in our schools?

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: family, kids, parenting, policy, religious liberty