As you’ll hear on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, Paul and Melody Westbrook’s marriage suffered in ways familiar to many couples. He was a driven man who found his worth and identity in his work. He felt comfortable in a room full of people, but not alone with his wife. Time with Melody had to have a purpose, a reason to be together other than simply enjoying her presence.

Melody persevered but, as the years rolled on, Melody felt more and more ignored and unimportant, and her resentment ate away at her love for Paul.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family April 11, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Success isn’t always a measurement of personal achievement. It’s often determined by the influence we have on others.

The tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, is named after Sir George Everest, a geographer from the 1800’s, but not because Sir George was the first to summit the mountain. That was Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. As a matter of fact, Sir George Everest never even saw the mountain.

The man who hiked the Himalayas to officially calculate the mountain’s record-breaking height was Andrew Waugh.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family April 10, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Do you want your kids to be happy with their marriages, with their families, and with their careers? Of course, you do.

I want the same for my boys. But I also know that happiness can be fleeting. Life can be unpredictable and circumstances could turn their world upside-down in a heartbeat.

Which is why I hope and pray for them to find joy. Joy will see them through trials and difficulties with faith and a determination to keep their confidence in Jesus – to trust that He remains with them in and through it all.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family April 8, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When the movie Straight Outta Compton debuted at the top of the box almost a decade ago, our media discernment ministry, Plugged In, gave the film a half “plug” (out of five) for family friendliness in its review.

It’s no wonder. Life in Compton, California is anything but family-friendly. I should know – I lived in Compton for part of my childhood. When I was only 8 years old, I was in my bedroom when a murder took place just 10 feet from the window.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family April 7, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

God’s light often shines the brightest when circumstances are at their darkest and most bleak.

Which makes today’s world an opportunity for Christians to be salt and light by recommitting to studying God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us into the lives of others – our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, and our communities. We are ambassadors for Christ, called to be prepared to “give a reason for the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family March 25, 2025 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura