Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family [Hardcover]

Jim Daly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

“I should be insane—or in jail.”

Instead, Jim Daly, President and CEO of Focus on the Family managed to rise above his harrowing childhood that began in the Compton suburb of Los Angeles. In this deeply personal memoir, he relives horrors no child should endure. A bloodcurdling neighborhood murder merely serves as the backdrop to the abuse and alcoholism within the four walls of his own home, a cycle broken only by the cancer that leaves him motherless. Orphaned by twelve, he somehow managed to catch enough glimpses of grace that he knew he wanted more, both from himself and from a God he had to believe existed.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since 2005, Daly has been president and CEO of Focus on the Family, the conservative Christian organization founded by child psychologist and Republican activist James Dobson. Daly's childhood family sorely needed focus: the last of five children born to aging alcoholics, young Jimmy experienced his father's abandonment, his stepfather's rages, his mother's death and several years with a gloriously insane foster family living next to their own personal garbage dump. He apparently avoided beatings and sexual abuse, though his chirpy coauthor rarely plumbs the depths of Daly's probable anguish. Rather than looking inward, the young adolescent developed a pragmatic philosophy of survival: Keep your expectations low. That way you don't get hurt. Somehow, despite homelessness and lack of income, he made it through college, studied overseas, married a good woman, climbed the career ladder and, sadly, still advises low expectations. I believe it's time we were open with one another about the brokenness that we all share he writes, though his story reveals much more of his family's brokenness than his own. Dobson fans—and they are legion—will find Daly's rags-to-(spiritual)-riches story inspirational; others may wish he had dispensed with his coauthor and spoken directly from the heart. (Sept.)
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About the Author

After pursuing careers in sales and international business, Jim Daly became a member of the Focus on the Family team in 1989. Since then he has risen through the company until becoming President and CEO in 2005. He lives with his wife of twenty six years, Jean, and their two sons, in Colorado Springs.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1434799948
• ISBN-13: 978-1434799944
• ASIN: 0781445337
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #966,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Daly's personal journey from orphan to head of an international Christian organization dedicated to helping families thrive is a powerful story. Abandoned by his alcoholic father at age 5, Daly lost his mother to cancer four years later - a wound deepened when his grieving stepfather emptied the family home and took off with almost everything while Daly, the youngest of five children, and his siblings were at their mother's funeral.

Several tough years in foster care followed, before Daly became a Christian in high school and found meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging.

"I am living proof," he wrote in his 2007 autobiography, Finding Home, "that no matter how torn up the road has already been, or how pothole-infested it may look ahead, nothing -- nothing -- is impossible for God."

Daly assumed the presidency of Focus on the Family in 2005 after 16 years with the ministry. He started his career in 1989 as an assistant to the president, where his primary duties were fostering relationships with supporters. When the International Department was created in 1992, Daly was appointed field director for Asia, Africa and Australia. In 1997, he was promoted to vice president of the International Division.

Daly earned additional responsibilities in 2003 when he was named group vice president, charged with directing the strategic path of the organization. In 2004, he was appointed chief operating officer, the role he held until he was handpicked by Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson to be the group's president.

Daly is a graduate of California State University, San Bernardino, earning a B.S. in Business Administration in 1984. During his senior year of study, he attended Waseda University in Tokyo. After graduating, Daly worked in the private sector for a FORTUNE 500 company.

In 1997, Daly completed his MBA in International Business at Regis University in Denver. In 2009, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Colorado Christian University in Denver.

Daly has received the 2008 World Children's Center Humanitarian Award, the 2009 Children's Hunger Fund Children's Champion Award, and the 2010 HomeWord Family Ministry Award. He has appeared on such television programs as Glenn Beck, Hannity and Your World with Neil Cavuto, and is a regular panelist for The Washington Post/Newsweek blog "On Faith" alongside leading academics and theologians.

Daly's second book, Stronger, was released in August 2010. It discusses in depth the ways God works through tragedy in the lives of His people.

Daly was born in 1961 and has been married to his wife, Jean, since 1986. They have two sons and reside in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oliver Twist has nothing on this guy, June 1, 2008

By 

M. A. Sibbitt "I know when it's good" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family (Hardcover)

Jim Daly's book is not just inspirational. It's important because it is real. It is as real as the chipped linoleum floor of a crummy kitchen in a lousy apartment building. And that's about as good as his future looks. How he overcomes betrayals, heart aches, deaths, and a slew of disappointments is amazing.

It is THE amazing grace in the end that sends this story into a realm that couldn't just happen without some divine help.

Focus on the Family is lucky to have this guy. He's the real deal. He's the genuine article, not fake, not flattering, not unfamiliar with real struggle. He knows how important a family is because he didn't have it.

This would be a great movie; uplifting and meaningful...something movies have not been in a long time....and it's so gritty even Focus on the Family could not handle it.

This book took courage and bravery to write. Read it because it will impart these traits to you.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much more...., September 13, 2007

By 

Jim M (Franklin, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family (Hardcover)

This book is so much more than an autobiography of a man with a troubled childhood who becomes successful. It is instructions on how to uncover and understand God's presence in your life from your first memory of suffering as a child to your present crisis. Never has a book, so easy to read, helped me to discover and see God's grace and redemption play out in my life as a person, husband and father.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balancing Faith, Family and the Future, April 24, 2008

By 

Dr. David Frisbie (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family (Hardcover)

Jim Daly and Bob DeMoss have combined their gifts to produce an excellent book for married couples and parents. Well-written and positive, the book constantly points us to enduring values --- and thus away from the stress and strain that so often sidetrack us.

How do you see past the daily grind? The answer is a change of focus: Daly shows us what we ought to be thinking about, looking at, and considering as we raise children, manage a career, and forge a family.

A great wedding gift --- helps new couples think about these issues on a pre-need basis. An excellent anniversary present --- shows couples how to unite around common goals and common ground.

Well-written, encouraging and always realistic. A hope-filled book that lights your pathway to the family God wants you to be!

Dr. David & Lisa Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Authors of: Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent