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FamilyLife Blended®

Ron L. Deal

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155 A New Year, An Improved Self, A Better Marriage

January 13, 2025
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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.

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Past Episodes

Luke Landwer was young when his parents divorced, and he enjoyed time with just his mom for many years. When she remarried a man with six kids, Luke made many adjustments. Listen to his conversation with Ron Deal about adjusting to a bigger family.
December 30, 2024
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Life in a stepfamily as a young adult can carry challenges and blessings. For Amelia Dellaripa, it carries many more blessings. Listen to her conversation with Ron Deal on how her stepfamily of 7 developed love and acceptance with one another over time.
December 16, 2024
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What’s it like to be a teenager in a blended family? Ron Deal talks with Davis and Campbell Faulkner about adjusting to a stepdad after their dad passed away and how they’ve navigated loss and grief and found gratitude for their current journey.
December 2, 2024
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Gratitude doesn’t always happen naturally in blended families, but it can move us toward unity in our relationships. Ron Deal and Gayla Grace talk about intentional ways to posture ourselves toward a heart full of gratitude, even in hard seasons.
November 18, 2024
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Foster care & adoption present difficult issues with similarities to stepfamilies. How do you help a child cope with ambiguous loss or connect as a parent when children act out from prior wounds? Listen to Ron Deal's conversation with Jenni Lord for help.
November 4, 2024
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Laura Husband, daughter of Columbia astronaut Rick Husband, was 12 years old when she endured her dad’s very public death. Laura shares with Ron Deal her layers of grief that followed and her experience growing up blended after her mom’s remarriage.
October 21, 2024
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How do you identify narcissism or cope with a narcissist? Ron Deal talks with counselor Laurel Slade-Waggoner about strategies in a relationship when someone seeks to control, manipulate, shift blame, gaslight, or behave in other narcissistic ways.
October 7, 2024
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Does your family have a designated Sabbath? How do you spend that day? Kathi Lipp shares with Ron Deal her suggestions for reimagining Christian Sabbath that is a meaningful day with the Lord and one another as you prioritize rest & share a meal together.
September 23, 2024
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The intersection of marriage & parenting often creates tension for stepcouples. Listen to Ron Deal & Gayla Grace give input on how to become a parenting team as you face guilt, fear, ambiguity, different parenting styles, co-parent struggles, and more.
September 9, 2024
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Stepfamily couples can experience sexual pitfalls that bring additional stress. Ron Deal & Gayla Grace talk about how to build trust & emotional safety to overcome the comparison trap, fear & insecurity, & other lingering messages that affect intimacy.
August 26, 2024
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About FamilyLife Blended®

FamilyLife Blended® provides  biblically-based resources that help prevent re-divorce, strengthen stepfamilies, and help break the generational cycle of divorce.

About Ron L. Deal

Ron L. Deal is the Director of blended family ministries at FamilyLife®, and is the author/coauthor of the books The Smart Stepfamily, The Smart Stepdad, The Smart Stepmom, Dating and the Single Parent, and The Remarriage Checkup. Ron voices the FamilyLife Blended short feature and is one of the most widely read authors on stepfamily living in the country. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist who frequently appears in the national media, including FamilyLife Today® and Focus on the Family, and he conducts marriage and family seminars around the country. Ron and his wife, Nan, have been married since 1986 and have three boys.

Contact FamilyLife Blended® with Ron L. Deal

Mailing Address 
FamilyLife ®
100 Lake Hart Drive
Orlando FL 32832
 
Telephone Number
1-800-FL-TODAY
(1-800-358-6329)