Helping Families Thrive

I thought you’d find this note encouraging. These kind words are reflective of what many have felt about Focus on the Family over the years:

“I am at a loss for words to adequately express how much it means to my husband and me to know that there is an organization like Focus that is rooting for us.  Just today I was reading Psalm 37 and thinking about how your ministry provides ways to ‘dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.’  We have two teenagers and an 8-year-old in our household.  Adventures in Odyssey got us through the grade school years, but now our adolescents’ faith is being tested by all the entertainment options that the world offers.  Plugged In Online has become a significant compass for our family.  All three of our kids are dedicated to their walk with Christ but they still encounter challenges.  Thanks for all of your research and persistence in helping us navigate through stormy waters.”

This is exactly what we’re about: coming alongside and helping families thrive. It’s a privilege to be part of what our heavenly is doing at and through Focus on the Family. If you have a story, let us know, please. All to the glory of God!

Focus in the News

Focus on the Family is in the news as we deal with a budget that isn’t quite adding up. Many of our friends have been affected by the recession – so has this organization. While there have been a number of stories in the press, here are Jim Daly’s thoughts about the steps taken to make sure we’re making sure we’re “living within our means.”

On a lighter note, we’re finding a lot of folks connecting with us through our new Facebook page.You can listen to programs there, and leave comments, too.

Talking About People And Issues

Sen. Tom Coburn discusses the importance of looking past political differences and befriending political opponents. Listen here to this engaging conversation, which also touches on the significance of the Elena Kagan hearings and the appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to oversee health care.

Post-Vacation Re-Entry

I’ve been traveling most of the past three weeks, a combination of business and travel trips. Last week was time away in the mountains with my wife and our four youngest kids. Today, as I re-enter the “normal world” of active children and engaging work, I’m reflecting…

John and Zane enjoyed fishing for trout.

Zane and I enjoyed fishing for trout in Western Colorado last week. No bites, but still fun time together!

If you have a minute, read Focus President Jim Daly blog post about his family’s time last week at K-Kauai Family Kamp.  And listen in here to a conversation I had with two gentlemen who are deeply committed to helping families through Christian camping (its one of the last segments of the show).

Also, if you’ve been on a family vacation this summer, I’d like to hear about your experiences.

Your Feedback

As you probably know, Focus on the Family is here to come alongside families like yours with relevance and grace at each stage of the journey.  We support families as they seek to teach their children about God and His beautiful design for the family, protect themselves from the harmful influences of culture, and equip themselves to make a greater difference in the lives of those around them.

As we often say on-air, we’re here to help.  With practical resources – like our 1-800 Family Help line, counseling, and Websites – we’re committed to providing trustworthy, biblical guidance and support.

Of course, one aspect of our outreach involves radio, and it has been a true privilege to work on the daily Focus program for most of my tenure here at the ministry.  And some of the greatest joy is in hearing from folks who have been touched by our work. We receive a significant number of comments every day about our radio programming, much of it quite encouraging and touching. Let me share just one story that we just received:

Over twenty-five years ago, I began listening to your radio program at the recommendation of a mentor and friend. As a result, I’ve been touched by many of your guests over the years. I just wanted to take a moment to thank Focus for all of your wise counsel. In this day and age when it’s often difficult to see evidence of godly families, be assured that many of us in your listening audience are living testimonies that all of your prayer, hard work, and perseverance has paid off. I praise the Lord for the outstanding ministry of Focus on the Family!

We are grateful that God uses our work to impact lives, and I’m wondering if YOU have a story to tell? Leave a comment below and let others know how these broadcasts have made a difference in your life.

Also, I’d ask that you take a few minutes to answer our broadcast survey. Your answers to eight quick questions will help us evaluate and improve our programming. Here’s the link to that survey.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

Parenting Autism

I have an autistic son. Although Zane continues to progress very well, his autism remains a significant part of his life. He has plenty of what I refer to as “autistic moments,” times when he gets stuck on some detail of life and seems to be unable to pull away from it, times when he asks questions – really strange questions – that remind me his brain doesn’t process information like mine does, times when he gets unusually frustrated about something that most kids would not think twice about. And while he is only six, I do sometimes wonder what life will be like for him when he is an adult. I pray he will live a fulfilling, independent life – and that he will know God.We just don’t know, however, what the coming years have for Zane.

The other day I saw this post in the New York Times, and as I read it I was really touched. It seems to capture, both candidly and rather beautifully, what parenting an adult with autism is like. My heart goes out to Laura Shumaker, the author, and to every parent of an adult special needs child. Such a calling is difficult and at times exhausting…and also an assignment from God to help us know His heart better.

Welcome To Colorado, Tim Tebow!

There’s been a lot of surprise at the Denver Broncos‘ choice of Tim Tebow in the first round of last night’s NFL draft. From what I’ve seen, many fans are excited about the addition of this promising talent, especially given his work ethic and his personal faith.

In light of his pending move to Colorado, I’ll offer the following suggestions to Mr. Tebow, hoping that he’ll make the transition to our state as well as possible.

Those are some initial suggestions to help with Tim’s move – or maybe yours? – to Colorado. Maybe you have additional thoughts…leave a comment.

UPDATE: See Jim Daly’s blog for his post welcoming Tim to Denver.

UPDATE: I should have congratulated OU’s Sam Bradford for his selection as the number one overall draft pick! Great to see the Rams’ confidence in his future. Also, congrats to Texas QB Colt McCoy on his new home in Cleveland (and you are still wearing orange! Go ‘Horns!). Two outstanding young men who have strong testimonies about their faith. Click their names to see why they are really “second,” despite their draft status.

Is There A Favorite Parent?

Until this morning, I’d always thought that kids go through seasons when they naturally tend to pick one of us parents instead of the other. Specifically, for the first several years my children have been “all Mommy, all the time.”  If I wanted to hold them, the answer was something like this: “No Daddy, but MOMMY can hold me.” I attributed such preferences to Dena’s natural nurturing personality. And it was okay.

As they’ve aged, my kids have made me the “go to” guy for a lot of things, and I know they like spending time with me.  So it has seemed reasonable to view such preferences as somewhat seasonal and related more to our giftings and strengths as parents.

I’ve not really thought much about these things, until I saw this rather provocative headline: “Are You The Favored Parent?” Author Ellen Weber Libby suggests there are many reasons that Moms and Dads actually seek out the “favored parent” status, and that such approaches to parenting might be more related to our own adult insecurities or emotional needs, and less to the preferences of children. She says,

“Why can it be so important for one parent to feel favored? …It is normal to want to be chosen or selected. Some parents are deliberate in the desires to be the favorite parent.”

Libby goes on to say that such intentional efforts to be “number one parent” could be tied to rejection we felt from our own parents, or from feelings of inadequacies within our marriage.

So ow I’m examining my own approach to parenting the six kids we’ve been blessed with, and to ask myself about the motives for my own behaviors. Not a bad thing…a little self-examination is usually helpful in sorting out those  underlying reasons for doing what I do.

What do you think? Are you a favored parent? Are you trying to be one?

Twitter: Yeah, We’re There

You may not know it, but Focus on the Family has a growing commitment to social media. For instance:

Followers of @MyFocusRadio will see who and what are being discussed on our daily Focus on the Family broadcast.

My personal Twitter account is @FullerJohn.

Focus’ President and CEO Jim Daly is @DalyFocus.

Our marriage department offers daily tips for strengthening your marriage on Twitter (@focusmarriage). Tweets include quotes for encouragement, reminders for your marriage and links back to Focus marriage resources.

Young married couples can get updates on new content by following @YoungMarried.

The Focus parenting department (@FocusParenting) offers weekday tips for discipline, passing your faith, protecting your kids and strengthening your family relationships on Twitter. Tweets include links back to parenting articles, questions & answers, audio, video and discussion threads.

@ThrivingFamily is our brand new, beautiful bi-monthly magazine.

New blog posts, articles and podcasts geared for young adults here: @BoundlessTeam.

Newly married couples can get updates on new content by following @YoungMarried.

@FocusLeadership is the feed for our semester-long program for college students, with daily tweets that include leadership quotes as well as what the FLI students are doing, from classroom topics and guest speakers to activities.

@TheTruthProject is also on Twitter.

Also on Twitter: @WaitNoMore, with events and information about caring for orphans.

If you like to keep up with policy news and issues, follow @CitizenLink and @DriveThruBlog.

If you live in or will be visiting Colorado Springs, follow @FocusBookstore to learn about sales, events, book signings and more!

Even Focus on the Family International Offices are on Twitter!

And if you prefer other social media platforms, around 35,000 people follow us on Facebook.

To learn more, see the links here.

NFL Draft and Tim Tebow

Alright, I’m not a big follower of the NFL draft. While I do read about the prospects and picks, I don’t make projections, I don’t count down the days until the draft and I don’t skip work to watch the drama unfold on television. But since Focus and Tim Tebow worked so closely on that Super Bowl ad, I decided today to see what the press is saying about the gifted quarterback.

Of the articles I read, this one stood out. It speaks highly of Tim’s work ethic and desire to excel. I thought it reflected well on Tim, his parents, and the God who gave Tim the tools to be a football player.

So I guess I WILL watch the draft, with all its drama, if only to see what doors God opens for Tim.

BTW, Focus President Jim Daly has a post here about Tim Tebow and his principles.

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