About the Guest
Ron Deal
Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.
About the Host
Ron Deal
Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.
Episode Transcript
Ron: We just had to stay committed to getting through those early years.
Announcer: For FamilyLife Blended®, here’s Ron Deal.
Ron: Jay made that comment on a live radio broadcast I was on talking about successful stepfamilies. And he’s right. One quality of blended families, who do well, is stubborn persistence through those early rough years. His wife, Laurie, shared another. “I had to give up my agenda of fixing my stepkids,” she said. She had what I like to call “Eager Mom Syndrome”—she was too focused on getting Mom-like respect and love rather than building a strong relationship.
Both Jay and Laurie made adjustments to their expectations, and led their family through. Now, 15 years later, they talk about how much their eight kids love each other. For FamilyLife Blended, I’m Ron Deal.
Announcer: To find out more visit familylifeblended.com.
FamilyLife Blended with Ron Deal is a production of FamilyLife. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.
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