Welcome to our podcast

FamilyLife Blended® provides timeless wisdom and practical help and hope for blended families and those who love them. Join Ron L. Deal, LMFT, LPC as he and his guests discuss a wide variety of marriage, family, and relationship topics related to blended families.

Meet The Ron Deal


Ron Deal is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife® and President of Smart Stepfamilies™. He is a family ministry consultant and conducts marriage and family seminars around the country; he specializes in marriage education and stepfamily enrichment. He is one of the most widely read authors on stepfamily living in the country.

Preparing to Blend | FamilyLife® | Ron Deal


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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Blended family life can bring hopelessness. Dr. Lee Warren, a neurosurgeon who has faced personal trauma, talks with Ron Deal about how to transform our thoughts and consider our feelings against the Truth of God’s Word to find hope for a better tomorrow.

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Ghosts of marriage past—triggers from past hurt—leave a residue on our heart that creates hypersensitivity to being hurt again. Ron Deal speaks with Gayla Grace about dealing with relationship baggage, moving past fear, & building trust in relationships.

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How do we help kids who are struggling with addictive behaviors? Ron Deal speaks with Dr Adrian Hickmon, who says we start by understanding the pain and void underneath their addiction, and then we must face the facts and determine the help they need.