Daly Focus Blog
Are you “blessed”?
There are many Christians, myself included, who would suggest that by the sheer nature of our Salvation in Jesus Christ, we are, indeed, a blessed people.
But if you asked a room full of people what it means to be “blessed,” I suspect you’d get a wide array of answers.
For some, to be blessed means to have health, wealth and a good family.
To others, to be blessed means to travel the world or climb a mountain.
Unfortunately, even good parents might one day see their adult children make poor choices. Here at Focus we’ve spoken with many heartbroken moms and dads who are grappling to understand and respond well to their grown kids’ decisions.
Here are four tips from our counselors on how parents can help their child get back on track.
1. Ease your guilt.
Every parent makes mistakes. However, as an adult, your son or daughter is now old enough to make their own choices and to take responsibility for them.
September 15, 1963, was a normal Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama.
Until 10:22 A.M.
Then everything changed.
Carolyn, a teenager at the time, was making her prescribed rounds through her church, retrieving paperwork from each of the Sunday school classes. On her way up the stairs, she smiled and said good morning to four young girls – Cynthia, Addie, Denise, and Carole – who were headed into the bathroom.
As Carolyn passed the church office, she heard a phone ringing.
Today’s news regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari to four marriage cases sets up the impending culmination to a decades-long cultural debate.
The outcome will either uphold a state’s right to define marriage or declare same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
However, regardless of the outcome, today’s news fails to recognize, appreciate and honor a key truth. Marriage is an institution that historically and culturally has always brought the two unique and complementary parts of humanity together into a lifetime, cooperative partnership that establishes and maintains the family.
Note: On Jan. 21, the GOP leadership pulled this bill and cancelled the vote. Please read my new post on what’s happened — and, more than ever, please contact your representative. -JD
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Your help is needed.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are currently gearing up for a vote on a bill that would ban abortion (with a few exceptions) after 20 weeks’ gestation.
It’s called the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 36) and it builds on the fact that 10 states have already passed local versions of the law since 2010.
Let’s be honest: Parenting isn’t for the weak – especially when you’re raising a strong-willed child.
It’s not fun when a pint-sized little one defiantly refuses to obey or when a 14-year-old talks back. Our natural instincts want to kick in. It’s all too easy to respond in anger.
My wife, Jean, and I know this well. We have two teenage boys, and one of them is a strong-willed child. It’s interesting to look back over the years and see how he’s impacted Jean and me in different ways.
By now you’ve likely heard that Atlanta Fire Chief, Kelvin Cochran, was recently fired from his position for publishing a book in which he affirmed a biblically orthodox understanding of human sexuality.
The 162-page book in question, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” is a Bible study designed for Christian men.
According to press reports, Mr. Cochran gave a copy of the book to three individuals within his department, all of whom he knew to be Christian.
I’ve got a riddle for you. “You can spend it, but you can’t keep it. And once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” Do you know what it is? Here’s a clue:
Let’s say you win a contest. The grand prize is $86,400 wired into your bank account each day at midnight. The money is yours to spend however you want. There’s just one catch. At the end of the day, every penny you don’t spend disappears from your account.
Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, recently celebrated 70 years of marriage, making them the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history. Their marriage isn’t just long-lasting – by all accounts, it’s a happy union characterized by both love and friendship.
Of her marriage, Mrs. Bush has said:
“I think we grew together. I think that when you have a child die and you survive, and you’ve been through a war and you survive, and you build a business and you survive, you either grow apart or together.
Did you get married to work a job, to do laundry, or to pay bills? Most people don’t. Yet, many marriages wind up in exactly that kind of “ho-hum” condition. At some point after the euphoria of the wedding ceremony, life settles into a daily grind of routine activity. Careers are chased, children are born, a larger home is purchased with two new cars in the garage.
And, slowly, the romance fades.
What used to be hours on the phone together and regular date nights becomes two people who only talk about practical matters, like finances or the kids’ grades.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
