FamilyLife Blended® Podcast

Tim and Olivia Smith brought six kids into their blended family in 1997. In their conversation with Ron Deal, they share the joys and challenges of melding together two families, how to encourage relationship building between siblings, and how stepparents can move from a place of isolation to a place of belonging in a stepfamily. Tim’s daughter, Christie, joins the conversation with her perspective as a teenager from the early years of their blended family. Although the stepmom—stepdaughter relationship is often the hardest to connect, Christie shares how Olivia’s small actions of moving toward her and allowing her to engage at her own pace created a loving, long-lasting relationship that she treasures today as an adult.  Show Notes and Resources Get a copy of The Mindful Marriage.  Get your copy of Blending-100 Day Guide for Step-Parents.  Learn about Blended Not Broken  Get our monthly newsletter  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Robert and Jennie Lord both grew up in blended families. They share their stories with Ron Deal about the residue left behind from the maze of parental divorce, multiple stepparents, challenges in relationship building, unwanted transitions, and ongoing instability. They’ve sought healing from those experiences and now want to share what they’ve learned with others. Married with a family of their own, they are committed to their marriage and want to provide an upbringing for their children that is vastly different than what they experienced. They teach and model a life built on faith and seek to provide stability and build strong bonds with their children. Show Notes and Resources Get the Blended & Blesses All-Access Digital Pass  Blended resources for you!  Learn more about Chosen and the work that Jenni does.  Get a copy of The Mindful Marriage.  Support FamilyLife Blended with a gift.  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Jennifer Maggio shares her story with Ron Deal of her challenges as a single mom that propelled her to begin a national ministry, serving over 1,000,000 single moms. Now married in a blended family, she continues the mission that no single mom walk alone. Show Notes and Resources You can still register for Blended & Blessed!  Learn more about Jennifer Maggio and her ministry.  Get a copy of the book, Preparing to Blend.  Support FamilyLife Blended with a gift.  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

What do you do with feelings like anger, jealousy, hurt, or rejection in your blended family? Listen to Ron Deal’s conversation with Dr. Alison Cook, who offers a three-step process to work through hard feelings and find healing and hope for your journey. Show Notes and Resources Register for Blended & Blessed  Look for blended ministries and events in your area.  Learn about Dr. Alison, get her books, and listen to her podcast.  Listen to the show on grief with Diane Fromme  Support FamilyLife Blended with a gift.  Blended resources  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Parenting a prodigal creates pain and helplessness as we seek to navigate difficult relationships. Listen to Ron Deal’s conversation with Judy Douglass, a prodigal parent, on how to tenderly manage these tenuous relationships while staying calm, present, and patient in rebuilding a relationship on their terms. Douglass and Deal discuss the Prodigal Son story in Luke and the parallels with our prodigals in opening our arms to them when appropriate but not chasing or threatening in any way with our behavior. We move toward the goal of gaining influence as we patiently work to bring back love and trust in our relationships. Show Notes and Resources Make plans to join us at Blended & Blessed!  Judy's podcast with Ron  Judy's podcast: When You Love a Prodigal  Order your copy of When You Love a Prodigal  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Cheryl Shumake wants to reach brown & black blended families with brown & black voices. She & Clifton Howard talk with Ron Deal about her new ministry, Sawubona, which means “I see you” & its goal to break through the barriers with culture-informed spaces Show Notes and Resources Watch Blended & Blessed from anywhere in the world!  Join us on the 2026 Love Like You Mean It Cruise  Learn more about Cheryl  Sawubona Ministries  Send a tax deductible gift  Ron's upcoming events  Blended Small Group Ministry Map  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

What does the apostle Paul mean in Philippians 2:4 when he says, “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others?” How do we apply that to marriage, and to relationships in a blended family?In this podcast episode, Ron Deal talks with Brian Goins, author of Playing Hurt, A Guy’s Strategy for a Winning Marriage, about taking care of our own needs and always being mindful of the needs of our spouse. Goins explains that marriage is about finding the motivation and resolve to stay in the game despite the pain and calls husbands to be the heroes they long to be--men who play hurt in order to win at marriage. Show Notes and Resources   Get Ron's new book: The Mindful Marriage  Get Brian's book: Playing Hurt Check out Brain, Heart, World Order The Art of Marriage Send a tax deductible gift of support Register for Blended & Blessed  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Do you think your marriage could improve if your spouse were different? Is it easier to look at their faults instead of considering your own? In this podcast episode, Ron Deal talks with co-authors of his new book, The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself. Terry and Sharon Hargraves and Nan Deal share how the book can help couples understand their part of marital distress, why they react the way they do, how to be more empowered constructively, and how to cultivate more loving and harmonious relationships as they understand themselves better and learn to relate to their partner as a companion. Show Notes and Resources  Small Group Searchable Map  Email us for your chance to win a signed copy of The Mindful Marriage. blended@familylife.com Get your copy of The Mindful Marriage  The Mindful Marriage Conference  Register for Blended & Blessed  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

Luke Landwer was young when his parents divorced, and he enjoyed time with just his mom for many years. When she remarried to a man with six kids, the adjustments for Luke were many. At just 11 years old, his conversation with Ron Deal is insightful as he articulates how adjusting to new rules, a new house, new people, was a challenge. He yearns for more time with his dad, but distance prevents it at times. He recognizes the blessings of a large family, however, with step-grandparents who love him and siblings around who prevent the loneliness he experienced in days past. Show Notes and Resources Learn more about Ron & Nan Deal's new book: The Mindful Marriage  Watch Luke's Blended Family story on YouTube.  Give a year end tax deductible gift!  Join us in April for a marriage event just for couples in blended families.  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy

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.  See cru.org/us/en/about/privacy FamilyLife’s Privacy Policy