Daly Focus Blog
When my son, Trent, was a teenager, I asked him to rake pine needles out of a rock bed in the front yard. He did a good job, but a couple of times I had to urge him to give a little more effort. Trent often declared a task “good enough” a bit too soon.
My younger son, Troy, faced a different problem. He was so meticulous, he might have kept on raking pine needles until he’d picked up every last one in the neighborhood.
In 2006, Charles Roberts entered the one-room schoolhouse of a Pennsylvania Amish community, took a dozen girls hostage, then shot ten of them, killing five before taking his own life.
Days after the shooting, something profound happened. The grandfather of one of the murdered girls stood up at her funeral and urged the congregation to have mercy. “Instead of choosing hate,” he said, “forgive.”
And they did.
Although heartbroken, the people responded to their tragic circumstances with grace.
Many couples who enter a second marriage naïvely believe their new stepfamily will bond quickly and fix everyone’s loneliness and loss. When some problems get worse instead, questions and doubts arise until the couple reaches a crossroads: do we hang on? Or do we give up and quit?
How does a new family find its identity?
We’re answering that question on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “When Lives Collide: Navigating Remarriage and Stepfamily.” Our guest is author and speaker Sabrina Beasley McDonald.
We talk a lot about biblical wisdom here at Focus on the Family. The reason is because more than any other factor God’s wisdom is critical to the success of a marriage, a household or a culture. Without His wisdom to guide us, poor, even destructive choices, are sure to follow.
Consider this: at the height of the #MeToo movement, The New York Times reported that 201 powerful men had been exposed for their mistreatment of women.
Fourteen-year-old Connor Halsa from Minnesota caught more than fish on his summer vacation last year. He and his family were enjoying a sunny day on the lake when he reeled in a wallet that contained $2,000 in cash. And yet, even as Connor spread out the money on a rock to dry, not once did visions of a new bike or gaming system dance through his mind. That wallet belonged to someone, and Connor intended to find out who and return it to him.
Lying has been a chronic problem in schools for generations, but it’s rarely been the teachers not telling the truth.
A lawsuit in California claims Christian teachers in the Golden State are being forced to conceal critical details from parents of sexually confused children.
Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West are teachers employed by the Escondido Union School District. In a lawsuit filed against their district, the educators allege they’re being forced to not only participate in the “social transition” of kids – but also lie to their parents if asked about it.
I’m excited for the opportunity to highlight the life and work of my friend Dr. Gary Chapman on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “The Impact of a Life Well Lived.”
Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
I can think of few people who exemplify this more than Dr. Gary Chapman
Many of you know him as the author of The Five Love Languages, which has sold 20 million copies and has been translated into over 45 languages.
At an orphanage in Guatemala, author Dave Willis saw how deeply love can change a person’s life. Most of the children at the facility had been rescued from sex-traffickers or abusive families. Like Margarita, who had been abused by her father and uncle. Everyone who should have protected her wounded her instead.
When she arrived at the orphanage, she hardly spoke and didn’t trust anyone – especially men. John and Jessica, the couple who ran the orphanage, did their best to love Margarita and to help her feel safe in every way that they could.
When Albert Einstein was a little boy, his father gave him a compass. The moment changed his life. No matter what direction he faced, the needle always pointed north. It was the first time he realized that something invisible influenced the universe.
You and I are so used to invisible things that we rarely give them a second thought. We can’t see air, but we experience its influence every time it fills our lungs or blows through our hair.
Why did you get married?
To work a job?
To do laundry?
To pay bills?
Of course not. Yet, many couples wind up with marriages in exactly that kind of “ho-hum” condition.
After the euphoria of the wedding ceremony fades, life settles into a daily routine of often-mundane activity. Careers are chased, children are born, and ever-larger homes are purchased requiring greater amounts of time and money to maintain. Before long, a relationship once nourished by hours on the phone together becomes two people who only talk when they’re discussing something practical, like finances or the kids’ schedules.
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.
