Daly Focus Blog
When a beloved friend or family member is battling a terminal illness, sometimes the littlest ones can get lost in the shuffle. Yet, even 3-year-olds can experience fear and confusion when it comes to prolonged sickness and death.
That’s why today I want to share with you four points from Focus on the Family counselors to help parents navigate issues associated with the illness and death of a loved one with their preschoolers and children in early elementary school.
It’s Monday.
For a lot of us, that means a new week filled with possibilities for all that we can go out into the world and achieve.
But some people don’t see opportunity for what they can do. Their primary focus is all about what other people can do for them.
They live their lives with a sense of entitlement. They seem to think they deserve something for nothing from the people around them simply because they exist and live on this planet.
Focus’ second-ever “Bring Your Bible to School Day” will be here this Thursday, Oct. 8. It’s a day for public school students from kindergarten to college to celebrate their religious freedom and to share the hope they’ve found with their friends.
Today, tomorrow and Wednesday we’re running a commercial on the Fox News Channel to help raise awareness of this wonderful event. Here’s a preview of the ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi9J-gRelSM
We hope you’ll share this commercial on your social media sites because there’s still time to sign up!
If you’ve just recently discovered our ministry, welcome to Focus on the Family.
As our longtime friends will agree, if you explore our websites, read our magazines, or listen to our radio programs, you’ll find a wealth of practical, everyday advice for parents – things like strategies for effective discipline and tips for helping kids thrive with their siblings or at school.
But there may be no more important wisdom we share with parents than the kind of topic we’ll be talking about on our broadcast today.
During a recent trip to Pennsylvania, I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda Pietrocola. Ms. Pietrocola and her family are friends of the ministry, and last summer she attended our Boundless conference. Amanda shared with me that she and her family had recently fostered two young girls. Their story provides a good snapshot of the realities associated with foster care. It’s rarely the neat and tidy Hollywood screenplay. While we enthusiastically champion foster care, we also think it’s important to paint an accurate picture of the challenges associated with the ministry.
Sometimes parents think of a child’s manners in the most basic of terms, like table etiquette or how polite they are when guests come to the house. But the benefits don’t end there. Manners actually equip your children for success in their adult life.
To that end, a few years back, my wife and I enrolled our boys, Trent and Troy, in something called Cotillion. It’s all about teaching manners and preparing kids to interact with others as maturing young men and women.
You’ve probably heard it said before, but it’s as true now as it ever was: money problems are one of the most consistent reasons for the breakdown of marriages.
That fact is why we return to the topic of money again and again here at Focus on the Family, to help and equip couples who are struggling with their finances.
Our guest on our program Wednesday (Sept. 16), Mary Hunt, has been there. She knows what it’s like to crawl out of incredible financial debt.
To be a good father, you have to be a good man.
Not perfect. After all, there are no perfect dads or men.
You just have to be there.
Sadly, there are too many dads who aren’t. Twenty-five million children in the United States go to bed each night without their biological father in the home.
Statistically, these children are more likely to grow up in financially difficult circumstances and more likely to drop out of school.
Could you welcome a child who’s in need into your home?
Reports show there are approximately 100,000 children in foster care in the United States who don’t have a mom and dad because the courts have deemed them unfit and have terminated their parental rights.
But think about this: There are about 300,000 churches in the U.S. If just one church out of three had a family who was willing to adopt a child, the number of kids on the foster adoption rolls would be zero.
“An unhappy child is a healthy child.”
At first glance, that comment from Dr. Kevin Leman catches you off guard a little, doesn’t it?
But dig a little deeper, and I think you’ll see what he means. There really are times when your son or daughter needs to be unhappy.
Why?
Well, maybe they’ve just talked back to you, disobeyed you, or disrespected you. Whatever they’ve done, you need to create an unhappy experience to help them learn that sort of behavior is unacceptable.
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.
