Say "Good Morning" Before Giving Your To-Do List
Focus on the Family Strengthening Marriage Podcast
Focus on the Family
4.7 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
Have you told your spouse how much you appreciate him or her recently? It can be easy to get caught up in the to-do lists of life, and miss telling them "thank you." Jim Daly and his wife Jean, along with the Smalley's, encourage you to make your mate feel valued through very simple gestures. Plus, John Fuller asks Erin Smalley why focusing on the best aspects of your spouse is good for your relationship.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Jim Daly. I hope you and your family are experiencing a godly sense of hope and joy this Christmas season. |
| 0:08.6 | I'm so thankful you've joined us today for more Bible-based encouragement for your marriage, parenting, and faith. |
| 0:15.7 | And in this season of giving, we invite you to join our support team here at Focus on the Family. |
| 0:21.8 | At this time of year, we typically raise nearly 50% of our annual budget. That means your financial support is crucial, |
| 0:29.1 | especially now when we have a matching gift opportunity of $8 million. That represents a lot of |
| 0:35.8 | ministry, and every little bit you contribute will have |
| 0:39.0 | double the impact. $25 becomes 50 and 50, 100, and so on. This is your opportunity to be part |
| 0:46.8 | of our family rescue team. Give now before December 31st to help us meet this match. Call 800 |
| 0:53.3 | A-family or donate at focus on the family.com slash family. |
| 1:04.8 | I make lists. |
| 1:06.2 | I just want to say that up front. |
| 1:07.5 | You might have noticed I make lists in some meetings. You make lists for your other |
| 1:12.3 | lists. I really just am incurable. But sometimes my list needs to be pushed aside and I need to just |
| 1:20.2 | see my spouse and appreciate her. I'm John Fuller along with Greg and Aaron Smalley. They lead the |
| 1:26.7 | Focus Marriage team and we're going to kick off this episode with a clip from Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. |
| 1:33.4 | Jim spoke with Greg and Aaron to talk about ways that couples can grow together. |
| 1:39.1 | And joining the conversation was Jim's wife, Gene. |
| 1:41.3 | So this is a great conversation between two wonderful couples |
| 1:45.9 | talking about how to help your spouse feel appreciated by avoiding the to-do list. |
| 1:52.9 | What do you think gets in the way of that? All three of you can answer this, but just why do we |
| 1:59.0 | get so distracted when it's the most important relationship we're |
| 2:01.8 | ever going to have? Yeah, I think life happens. And it takes that you think about it, it takes |
... |
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