Living in a blended family as a young adult can bring challenges and blessings. For Amelia Dellaripa, it brings many more blessings. In this podcast episode, Ron Deal talks with Amelia about her blended family of seven and how they developed love and acceptance for one another over time.

Amelia talks about how there was seldom any divisiveness or difficult interactions with her stepmom or stepbrother from the beginning. They were always welcoming toward her, and it seemed that everyone was on the same team and wanted to do their part in building relationships. Although she was young when her dad remarried and understanding new family dynamics was hard, she’s now thankful for her big, blended family.

Show Notes and Resources

• Pre-order Ron & Nan Deal's new book: The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself 
• Get organized with the Family Core App! 
• This Christmas, your gift will be doubled! 
• Upcoming events and resources 
• Join us in April for a marriage event just for couples in blended families. 

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What’s it like to be a teenager in a blended family? How do you manage the confusing emotions of your childhood and teenage years while also adjusting to new family dynamics? Davis and Campbell Faulkner lost their dad in a traffic accident when they were very young. Their mom remarried and they’ve navigated feelings of loss, fear, anxiety, grief, abandonment, and more as they’ve adjusted to a new stepdad and life in a blended family. Listen to their insightful conversation with Ron Deal and learn how they’ve coped and found gratitude for their current journey in the midst of loss.

Show Notes and Resources

• Pre-order Ron & Nan Deal's new book: The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself 
• Double your year end gift to FamilyLife Blended. 
• List of counselors and coaches 
• Upcoming events and resources 
• Please send your comments! [email protected]
• Join us in April for a marriage event just for couples in blended families. 

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Gratitude doesn’t always happen naturally in blended families, but it is worth pursuing and can move us toward unity in relationships. As we take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), consider our perspective about the circumstances we find ourselves in, and allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), we posture ourselves toward an obedient heart that discovers blessings, even in hard seasons.

In this podcast episode, Ron Deal and Gayla Grace talk about intentional ways to create a heart full of gratitude that pursues love with others and more easily moves our relationships toward connectedness.

Show Notes and Resources

• Watch podcast episodes on YouTube 
• Sign up for the Strengthening Stepfamilies Newslettter 
• Find Smart Stepfamily Therapists and Coaches 
• Consider supporting ministry to blended families with a tax deductible gift. 
• Join us in April for a marriage event just for couples in blended families.

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Foster care and adoption present difficult dynamics with issues similar to blended families. How do you help a child cope with ambiguous loss or connect as a parent when children act out from prior wounds? The loss that results from separation from a first family carries deep wounds that manifest themselves in misbehavior. Many children can’t verbalize their hurts, and families don’t have access to all the pieces of the puzzle. Love isn’t enough to fix the brokenness in a child, particularly when trauma is part of the story. Listen to Ron Deal's conversation with Jenni Lord for answers to these complex issues.

Show Notes and Resources

• Pre- order Ron's new book: The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself 
• Learn more about Jenni and Chosen 
• Ron's speaking schedule 
• Get our monthly newsletter 
• Learn more about blended family resources 
• Get The Summit on Stepfamily Ministry, All-Access Digital Pass 

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Laura Husband, daughter of Columbia astronaut Rick Husband, was 12 years old when she endured her dad’s very public death. Laura shares with Ron Deal the layers of grief that followed with the lingering effects and expectations after an astronaut dies. When her mom began dating three years later, she felt abandoned and without a voice to the changes in her life. Her mom later remarried and Laura began an adjustment to blended family life with her new stepdad, Bill. Laura shares the loving relationship she and Bill eventually formed and how Bill chose a path, separate from her dad, that drew her in.

Show Notes and Resources

• Get the Summit All-Access Pass 
• Pre- order Ron's new book: The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself 
• The list of Smart Stepfamily therapists and coaches. 
• Consider supporting resources for blended families with a tax deductible gift. 

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How do you identify narcissism or cope with a narcissist? Ron Deal talks with counselor Laurel Slade-Waggoner about strategies in a relationship when someone seeks to control, manipulate, shift blame, gaslight, or behave in other narcissistic ways.

Show Notes and Resources

• Check out Laurel's website and available books. 
• Laurel's Podcast 
• Join us for the Summit on Stepfamily Ministry! 
• Ron's comprehensive list of Recognized Smart Stepfamily Therapy Providers 
• Check out everything FamilyLife Blended has to offer. 
• Send in a tax deductible gift to the FamilyLife Blended Team. 

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Does your family have a designated Sabbath? How do you spend that day? Author Kathi Lipp shares with Ron Deal her suggestions for reimagining Christian Sabbath that is a meaningful day with the Lord and one another as you prioritize rest and share a meal together. On Sabbath, we want to focus on who God is and His provision for us as we rest and connect with one another.

Lipp suggests that food provides the platform to linger in relationships, and feeding your family shows you care for them. She shares recipes from her new book, Sabbath Soup, and offers ideas on preparing for Sabbath and creating a special day each week.

Show Notes and Resources

•  Watch Women & Blended Families!
• Join us for the Summit on Stepfamily Ministry! 
• Learn more about Kathi and get her new book: Sabbath Soup 
• Thank you for supporting FamilyLife Blended with a donation!

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The intersection of marriage and parenting often creates tension for stepcouples that leads to disagreements and, as a result, slows down relationship building.

Listen to Ron Deal and Gayla Grace give valuable input on how to become a parenting team and strengthen your marriage in the process as you cope with common stepfamily dynamics such as: different parenting styles, co-parenting struggles, rejection from stepchildren, stepparent ambiguity, fear of failure, a paralyzed biological parent, a stepparent who oversteps their place, guilt from the past and fear to parent well because of what the children have already walked through, and other challenging dynamics.

Show Notes and Resources

• Register for this year's Summit on Stepfamily Ministry! 
• Watch Women & Blended Families 
• Watch: No Threat video 
• Check out Stepparenting with Grace and Building Love Together. 
• The Smart Stepfamily on RightNow Media 

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As a blended family couple, it’s not uncommon to experience sexual pitfalls that bring additional stress to your relationship. How do you prevent physical intimacy issues and work through those that have shown up?

In this episode, Ron Deal and Gayla Grace talk about how to build trust and emotional safety to overcome common pitfalls such as: the comparison trap, fear and insecurity from "ghosts" of marriage past, unlearning old rhythms of sexual practice and learning new ones, and lingering messages from prior sexual experiences that can inhibit healthy physical intimacy in marriage. In addition, you’ll understand more about the biblical view of healthy sexuality and why God established boundaries around it.

Show Notes and Resources

• Make plans to join us at the Summit on Stepfamily Ministry! 
• Check out where Ron will be speaking. 
• Listen to or watch episode 30, 66, or 131 of the FamilyLife Blended Podcast
• Send a donation and get a copy of The Smart Stepfamily Marriage 

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The dynamics of blended family life can bring hopelessness, and we lose the ability to see a future where God can make our situation better. But there’s always hope for a brighter tomorrow. In this episode, Ron Deal speaks with Dr. Lee Warren, a neurosurgeon who has experienced personal trauma and loss, and explains the difference between our mind and our brain and how to use our mind to face hard things in a constructive manner. As we transform our thoughts and consider our feelings against the Truth of what God’s Word says, we find hope again for healing, for purpose, for change.

Show Notes and Resources

•  Send a gift and receive The Smart Stepfamily Marriage 
• Learn more about the Summit on Stepfamily Ministry
• Get Dr. Lee's book, HOPE IS THE FIRST DOSE 
• Dr. Lee Warren's website and podcast 
• Email us for a chance to win a hard copy of Hope Is The First Dose! [email protected]
• Ron's list of Smart Stepfamily therapists. 

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