Family & Parenting

German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer once called praying together the heartbeat of the Christian community. It’s true for marriage, too. Married couples are designed for intimacy. Yet, like Adam and Eve in the garden, they often hide from God and each other. Some couples avoid intimacy because it feels safer than risking exposure and shame. But […]

Trust. It’s a crucial part of the human experience because it’s the foundation of intimacy and well-being in relationships – from marriage to parenting to friendships to business partners. While trust often begins with emotion, it is more than just good feelings. It’s rooted in solid, observable qualities that assure us we can rely on

Author Aaron Sharp says every new dad is like Peter Parker, the mild-mannered character in the Marvel comic series who becomes Spider-Man. A pivotal moment in Peter’s story comes when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider, and his life changes forever. Only, he doesn’t immediately realize it. For men, life changes in mysterious ways the

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

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

How do you help a loved one who is “deconstructing”? Authors Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett, who have researched the deconstruction movement and engaged in conversations with friends and family about it, describe deconstruction as “a postmodern process of rethinking your faith without regarding Scripture as a standard.” The Bible itself encourages us to evaluate

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

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

When Easter comes around every year, many people think of chocolate, decorative eggs and rabbits carrying baskets. As Christians, we know there’s a lot more to the story. Jesus’ triumphal parade. His last supper with His disciples. His brutal death on the cross. His bodily resurrection. The events surrounding the Easter story can evoke a

I came home from work about a year after my wife Jean and I got married and found her in the bathroom crying. I was worried she was having second thoughts about our relationship, but when I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I flushed my wedding ring down the toilet.” Back then, she