All Articles for Stepfamily Living

What good is a trust without trust?

To make a friend, be gentle-respectful.

In stepfamilies, be gentle and respectful.

Do you want to be strong? Be gentle-strong.

Hey, we respect you enough to give it to you straight.

Rodney and Lisa Webb share their difficult blended journey, as counselor and therapist Helen Wheeler and blended family expert Ron Deal speak wisdom.

Are you so bold as to insult God?

So, what's your bias?

Today a word of caution about ambition.

Some people are easy to love; others...not so much.

Do you know what intestacy is?

Betrayal in marriage can be devastating. Kyle and Sheri Keffer have both experienced betrayal in previous marriages and have seen how the effects can carry over into a new marriage. They join Ron to discuss what betrayal can do to a person, the shame that sexual betrayal can produce, and how they're finding healing.

No, you don't judge a book by its cover. Or a family for that matter.

Michele Cushatt has experienced divorce, blended family life, adoption, and is a three time cancer survivor. In this episode Michele and Ron discuss the unexpected journey of her life and the hard work of parenting hurting kids.

What would you do if the night before your wedding one of your children comes to you and says, "Please don't get married tomorrow?" On this episode, Mike and Kim Anderson discuss how they handled that as well as how they dealt with losing their daughter to her biological father's control.

How do you give grace to a teenager? To a stepteenager, at that? And, how do you give each other grace as parents, when it comes to how they react to your teenager? Ron discusses these questions and more with Randy and Gayla Grace.

Parenting is difficult, but when you add divorce, the challenge multiplies. Navigating even the most routine parental responsibilites can become difficult. This episode brings help and hope to parents who may be struggling.

Got a strained family relationship? Maybe it's time you wrote them a tribute.

Can you imagine? Telling a parent to abandon their child?

For some couples, no matter how much they try, the venom and vitriol of a former spouse drowns out all reason and compromise. Rodney and Lisa Webb, and counselor and therapist Helen Wheeler share their difficult journey.

Grandparents can set the tone for a lot in a family.

Stepmoms bear a unique burden, and they often neglect their own care. Melanie Anthony offers hope for balance in the midst of the burden.

She may have been in love with Lamar, but as a strong self-confident woman, Ronnie wasn't that interested in Lamar's help raising her two children from a previous relationship. Exploring the complex nuances of blended relationships.

How many pots of money do you have?

Growing up, Dave Bondeson's father told him, "Remember, you're a Bondeson and a Christian." Dave finds it challenging to translate that into a blended family with a stepdaughter whose last name is not Bondeson.

For kids, a healthy stepfamily is life changing!

Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, right? WRONG. In this encouraging exploration of the real state of marriage, researcher and author Shaunti Feldhahn teams up with Ron Deal for a deep look at the facts behind the statistics.

Understanding the long-term effects of divorce and remarriage on kids is difficult. A good way to start is to ask an adult who experienced life in a blended family. Ron talks with “FamilyLife Today” host Dave Wilson about his childhood blended family experience. Show Notes and Resources To learn more about Dave and Ann Wilson, […]

When Dave was growing up his father told him over and over, “You’re a Bondeson and a Christian.” That helped shape his identity. But as a father himself, Dave finds it challenging to translate that into a blended family situation with a step-daughter whose last name is not Bondeson. Show Notes and Resources The Parent’s […]

Authors Dave and Ann Wilson talk to Ron Deal about the impact divorce can have on a person's life. The Wilsons share how the divorce impacted Dave's ability to resolve conflict in a healthy way.

Dave and Ann Wilson talk to Ron Deal about the hard realities of his parents' divorce when he was seven years old. Hear firsthand how divorce impacts a child.

If you're in a stepfamily, the holidays can get complicated pretty fast. Ron Deal offers some perspective, and gives counsel for how to navigate Christmas in a stepfamily.

Ron Deal explains the benefits of "cooking" your stepfamily with a crock pot and not a blender. He stresses the value of being patient as your blended family blends at its own pace.

Ron Deal, director of FamilyLife Blended, talks about the vital role step-grandparents provide as they help create connection in their families.

Robbie and Sabrina McDonald, both widowed before they met and now married to each other for three years, talk about the challenges of blending a family.

Ron Deal joins Robbie and Sabrina McDonald to talk about their blended family three years after saying "I Do."

How does it feel when one of your divorced parents remarries? Shannon Simmons and Lauren Reitsema share the stories of their blended family experiences.