FamilyLife Blended® Minute

What Brings Us Together

with Ron Deal | October 30, 2018
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Single people assume having a child brings and keeps couples together. One woman said, "Better than a wedding certificate, we have an amazing daughter who will bind us together...till death do us part." This is part of a confusing cultural double-message that says you don't need marriage to have a baby, but you can rely on that baby to remain coupled. This is not true. A strong couple relationship requires dedication to each other, not a child. And, strong parenting flows from a strong marriage.

  • Show Notes

  • About the Host

  • About the Guest

  • Single people assume having a child brings and keeps couples together. One woman said, "Better than a wedding certificate, we have an amazing daughter who will bind us together...till death do us part." This is part of a confusing cultural double-message that says you don't need marriage to have a baby, but you can rely on that baby to remain coupled. This is not true. A strong couple relationship requires dedication to each other, not a child. And, strong parenting flows from a strong marriage.

  • 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.

Do children keep a marriage together?