It’s time to raise our fists and build our momentum to fight against the stereotypical, dead-beat dad. Not the selfish, under-loving, narcissistic, self-proclaimed kings that are fathers at tax season and ghost during the year. The fathers who actually want to be ever-present in their children’s lives, but many women keep them at bay and force them to identify as dead-beats.
Oftentimes we hear about the vindictive SSM (Salty Single Mom) who feeds into an unfortunate, cultural stigma with the la
What will make you feel successful as a parent? And how do you intend to reach your goals?
If your children get good jobs or even become wealthy, would you be satisfied? If they are popular and have many friends, is that what you want? Would it please you if they become influential civic leaders or politicians? Or would you be happy if they just grow up to be good citizens, have good health, good families, and live like most middle-class Americans? What do
Last year I received an email correspondence from a desperate wife and mother: “I won’t watch my kids be physically abused anymore. I won’t listen to my girls be called vile, vulgar names. I won’t have things smashed or broken in the house. I won’t get into a vehicle and listen to him rage. No more ‘spending time together’ by me scrap-booking and him sitting two feet away running pornography on the computer! I refuse to stay home and not attend church because I feel guilty for leaving him alon
The author (center in back) with his father and brothers
COURTESY OF KEITH BENJAMIN
As Father’s Day approaches, I recall that my father, Randall Keith Benjamin Sr., never sat my brothers and me down when we were kids and told us his entire life story. The memories that he shared with us about his childhood were more general summaries than detailed accounts.
But he’d offer occasional moments of exposure. In those times of vulnerability, he’d, seemingly by accident, allow once-suppressed nightm
 Jim Daly / Image: Courtesy of Focus in the Family Focus on the Family’s Jim Daly has an encouraging message for fathers: You’re not defined by your past. He grew up in a dysfunctional family and bounced through the foster care system, an unlikely background for someone destined to lead an evangelical family-equipping organization. But that’s just where Jim Daly finds himself today, as the President and CEO of Focus on the Family. Daly’s first book, Finding Home, detailed his difficult childho |
 Marvin Olasky Don’t go inside when he drops the ball. My Mother’s Day column last year—the May 18 one about honoring an ornery mom—must have struck a nerve, judging by the many letters I received. Some readers asked, What about your dad? It looks as if lots of guys on Father’s Day have a hard time obeying God’s command to honor our fathers. One reason is that many of us retain grievances. The quirky 1989 baseball movie “Field of Dreams” gets to me because my dad and I never played catch, no |
