Jim Daly - Finding Home: An Imperfect Path to Faith and Family

what people are saying about

Finding Home

Weaving personal experience and biblical truth, my friend Jim Daly offers hope to all those who have yearned for the belonging, the love, and the shelter that the word home should evoke. Whether you are a struggling parent trying to create a good environment for your family, or a grown child still longing for a home you never knew, Dalys excellent book offers a roadmap to the God who made His home among us.

Chuck Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship

Ever felt broken? Ever longed for home? Jim Daly has a powerful, fascinating story that will encourage your heart. He is a living example of someone who has used his pain to become better, not bitter and is being used by God to change the world. Prepare to be inspired!

Rebecca St. James, Grammy Awardwinning Christian
singer/best-selling author

A true story of Gods redemption.

Jason Elam, Denver Broncos NFL franchise kicker

Jim Dalys book had a huge impact on me. This is a powerful story of a kid who lived in twenty-four houses by the age of eighteen yet never lost hope that life would be better, that God had a plan for his life. And what a plan! The pain of Jims youth has been transformed into a passion for strengthening and saving others from the heartache he experienced. It is such an encouragement to see how God takes our hardships and uses them to create something beautiful if we will only let Him.

Shaunti Feldhahn, best-selling author, For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men,
public speaker, and newspaper columnist

From a broken family to a champion for families, Jim Daly demonstrates how God can use the broken hearted to accomplish great things in His kingdom. Anyone with scars from their own childhood will find great encouragement in Jims compelling story.

Rich Stearns, president, World Vision US

Jim Daly has done a beautiful job of reminding us that God is involved in the details of our lives. Through his personal journey, we see that there is purpose in our pain. Thank you, Mr. Daly, for your transparency.

Natalie Grant, award winning singer/songwriter

Need encouragement, help, and significance in your life? Youll find it in Jim Dalys book Finding Home .

Dr. Kevin Leman, author,
Making Children Mind without Losing Yours

This is possibly the most inspiring story of growing up and finding God that I have heard in my short fifteen years. Finding Home is one of those books that bridges gaps between generations and helps us all appreciate the lengths God will go to in order to prove that in His family, there are no orphans.

No matter what youre facing in life God is bigger. Jim Dalys story proves that. Jim Dalys story offers hope to young people who feel like they have been abandoned and wonder if God really has a plan for them.

Zach Hunter, 15, author, Be the Change,
founder, Loose Change to Loosen Chains

For many years our family has enjoyed the ministry of Focus on the Family. Im delighted to see Jim leading the organization. His story will shock, encourage, challenge, and inspire you.

Pat Gelsinger, senior VP Intel Corp.,
author, Balancing Family Faith & Work

Jim has written from the heart and shares his experiences with honesty and sincerity. His story is one I relate to as I, too, grew up apart from a fathers love and devotion. Because of Gods grace, Jim encourages us to pursue better marriages, better families, better life experiences, and better lives. He never comes off sounding like he knows it all; instead he comes across as a friend offering a warm cup of coffee, a smile, and a tender heart.

Steve Largent, former NFL player,
member of United States Congress

What a wonderful insight into a man who is devoting his life to improving the family!

Dean C. Borgman, chairman (ret.), Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

Jims story shows us how God quiets storms in our lives and gives our lives new meaning. Finding Home is a must read!

Harry R. Jackson, Jr., senior pastor, Hope Christian Church, founder, High Impact Leadership Coalition

Jims compelling story will grip you from the first page. He offers many lessons on how faith helped him overcome a very dysfunctional childhood. Thank you, Jim, for opening up your life to us.

Mac McQuiston, president, CEO Forum, Inc.

Jim Daly paints a very clear picture of some of the challenges kids face in broken and abusive homes today. The heart-wrenching truths you find in his story portray the beauty of healing and restoration that comes when we are recklessly abandoned to God.

Ron Luce, president and founder, Teen Mania Ministries

Jim Daly has revealed his life story in collections of humor, great pain, difficulty, and sometimes odd experiences that put him in the position for God to be able to do great works through him. Readers will be blessed.

Matthew K. Rose, chairman, BNSF Railway

FINDING HOME

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance View

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

55 Woodslee Avenue, Paris, Ontario, Canada N3L 3E5

David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6NT, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, scanned, resold, or distributed by or through any print or electronic medium without written permission from the publisher. This ebook is licensed solely for the personal and noncommercial use of the original authorized purchaser, subject to the terms of use under which it was purchased. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Cry Out to Jesus by Tai Anderson, Mark Lee, Mac Powell, David Carr, and Brad Avery. Copyright 2005 Consuming Fire Music (ASCAP) (adm. by EMI CMG Publishing). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

All names in this book are taken from the authors memory.
None have been intentionally changed.

LCCN 2007930615

print ISBN 978-1-4347-6894-0

eISBN 978-1-4347-6668-7

2007 Jim Daly

Previously published under the same title in hardcover and international trade paperback formats 2007 Jim Daly, ISBNs 978-0-7814-4533-7 and 978-0-7814-4866-6.

Jim Daly is represented by the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group,
10152 Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130 (www.wordserveliterary.com).

Cover Design: The DesignWorks Group

Cover Photo: Don Jones Photography

Interior Design: Karen Athen

Interior Photo Design: Ron Adair

First Worldwide Paperback Edition 2011

To my mom for all the lessons about life

And to my family, Jean, Trent, and Troy,
with whom Im finally home.

Contents

Stronger

Authors Note

Life is wonderful.

Life is hard.

Ive experienced my share of both and prefer the good stuff this journey has to offer. Especially considering the train wreck that was characteristic of my childhood. As youll soon discover, my family put the D into Dysfunction. My father stepped out of our cozy home when I was five. Then, at age nine, my mom died. Suddenly, I became an orphan.

Ive had a few train wrecks.

Ive had some major high points, too.

But in the end, I dont get to pick the events that impact my life. I have no control over such things. This I do know: How I respond to what comes my way will either make or break me. Kill me, or give me strength.

In the pages ahead Im going to be open about my unusual path to finding faith and family. As you read, my sense is that God might just beckon you to embrace the story that is uniquely yours to tell, and to realize that, in spite of how things may appear at any given moment along the path, He has designed you to do something significant.