Laced With Hope
| At a Summit on Stepfamily Ministry, an event for pastors and lay leaders, I heard stories that included reward and struggle. Struggles to merge family members, to protect a marriage, and given the prevalence of complex families, to get church leaders on board with the need for blended family ministry. Nontraditional is the new traditional. And yet, each story was infused with hope in a God who loves and redeems. Hope in the power of church community and the Holy Spirit to sustain and guide.
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.