Preparing to Blend

Are you part of a blended family, or do you know someone who is? A couple of years ago, Ron Deal, the president of Smart Stepfamilies™, contacted me about being part of the Blended Families Conference. I was so confused. John and I have been married for thirty-three years. We don’t have a step-family.

John laughed when I told him that. “Yes, but we do have a blended family. I adopted Cory after we married, and then we adopted seven children together.” Oh, yes, I suppose that is blended!

Living in a blended family is hard, and getting wonderful advice from amazing people like Ron Deal can help. Ron knows that blended family living isn’t easy, and the foundation for his advice is Philippians 2:4-5, “Don’t look out only for your own interests but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” That’s hard, isn’t it?

Ron’s new book Preparing to Blend helps couples prepare for all types of family dynamics:

Relationship
Practical
Spiritual
Financial
Personalities

Ron says, In blended families, the biological parent and stepparent must work hard to find their harmony, to support one another, and to play to one another’s strengths.

and

Since authority is based on relationship and trust with the child, stepparents should move gradually into a relationship first, then discipline.

Those are just two small nuggets he shares.

In today’s podcast, Ron also answers questions from my readers, such as how to handle jealousy from kids when two parents who have children from previous relationships have a child together.

If you’re in a blended family … or you know someone who is … tune in!

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